Determining an individual's biological sex is crucial in human osteological analysis and typically represents the first step in any bioarchaeological and archaeological anthropology work. However, sex estimation of skeletonized non-adults has proven to be a persistent challenge, marked by consistently unreliable results. This limitation hinders our ability to gain deeper insights into childhood, child-rearing practices, and children's roles in past societies. To overcome this issue, the use of paleoproteomics has emerged as a promising solution.

The present project aims to identify sex-specific, amelogenin-derived peptides in tooth enamel of children excavated from the Dětkovice cemetery (medieval period; South Moravia) through liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry. The pretreatments and analyses will be conducted at CEITEC Masaryk University. The results obtained will be placed within their anthropological and archaeological contexts.

The tasks to be undertaken are as follows:
1. Develop the theoretical framework of the thesis, emphasizing the historical and archaeological contexts of the collections, and reviewing the available data.
2. Conduct a bibliographic review on the existing methodological approaches.
3. Conduct the proteomic analysis and acquire the necessary data (66 graves with non-adults).
4. Place these results within a broader context, particularly from anthropological and archaeological perspectives (e.g., examining the spatial organization of children's graves in the cemetery, analyzing the treatment of children in death based on sex and age, and comparing archaeological and biological sex data, among other factors).

The manuscript and defense must be in English.

To be awarded credit for the first semester (course Bi4502 Bachelor Thesis I) the above-stated tasks 1 and 2 need to be accomplished, and to be awarded credit for the second semester (course Bi6100 Bachelor Thesis II) the above-stated tasks 3 and 4 need to be accomplished, therefore, to finish the thesis and hand it in for thesis defense in the IS Archive. The recommended extent of the thesis is 30-50 pages but can be exceeded if the thesis development requires it. However, the 30-page lower limit is the minimum that can be accepted. The thesis will exclude the explicit description of utilized material and methods, including in cases when the thesis is in the form of a literature review. The method/process description will clearly state the author’s contribution to the acquired results. The Czech version of the ISO 690 style will be the citation style. Appropriate tabular and graphical summarizing and instructive illustrations will form part of the thesis. The thesis will be handed in PDF format in the IS Archive and in print-bound form for defense and archiving purposes. In the formal and content aspects the valid MU legislation, Dean’s Measure on final these, and Department of Anthropology internal regulations must be met.