Specimens from the Hamann-Todd and Terry anatomical collections were used as a "calibration" sample. Eight dimensions of the second cervical vertebra were measured to the nearest 0.1 mm by using digital sliding calipers and recorded for 100 black and 100 white specimens for each gender, ranging in age from 20 to 79. For bilateral structures, the left side was recorded. A multivariate analysis of variance procedure was performed for the main effect of gender, race, and skeletal collection, as well as the interaction of gender and collection and gender and race. This procedure assessed the relationship of the continuous dependent variables to the independent classification variables. Discriminant function analysis, a procedure that maximizes within-group differences, was used to assess the effectiveness of the second cervical vertebra at estimating gender and race. A stepwise procedure was used for variable selection. The study found that the second cervical vertebra can be used to estimate gender with 83 percent accuracy in unidentified human skeletal remains. Although the second cervical vertebra would never be used for the estimation of gender in fairly complete skeletons, it can be used to correctly classify gender with nearly the same level of accuracy of other traditionally used single bones. 7 tables and 9 references