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Occurrence of metopic suture in modern and archaeological Croatian population
Tina Bareša, Ivan Jerković1, Željana Bašić
1Ivan Jerković, University Department of Forensic Sciences, University of Split, Ruđera Boškovića 33, 21000 Split, Croatia, ivanjerkovic13@gmail.com.
Aim:
To determine the incidence of metopism in the modern and archaeological Croatian population.
Methods:
A total of 800 specimens (454 modern multi-slice computed tomography [MSCT] scans and 346 dry archaeological skulls) were visually examined for metopic suture presence. The metopic suture was deemed complete when aligned nasion to bregma.
Results:
In the overall sample, the metopic suture was observed in 36 of 800 subjects (4.5%): 19 of 424 (4.5%) men and 17 of 370 (4.6%) women. A significant difference was not observed between modern and archaeological samples (χ2=3.219, P=0.359) or between the sexes (χ2=0.006, P=0.939). The frequency of metopism varied from 3.5% in the modern population to 7.04% in the samples from the Roman period.
Conclusion:
There are no visible secular changes on metopic suture in the Croatian population through time. Some variations can be the result of differences in sample size in different time periods.
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