Age estimation of immature human skeletal remains using the post-natal development of the occipital bone (original) (raw)
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Age Estimation of the Human Skeleton
Age Estimation of the Human Skeleton is a collection of papers presented over a several year period at the Mountain, Desert, and Coastal Forensic Anthropology meetings. The purpose of the book, according to the editors, is to present some of the most recent work on age-at-death estimations from the human skeleton. It begins with a short paper on the history of age-at-death methodologies by Douglas Ubelaker. The remainder of the book is divided into three sections: (1) dental, (2) osteological, and (3) histological and multifactorial methods. The 17 chapters in these three sections are a mixture of reviews of the current methods (four chapters), evaluation studies of existing methods (seven chapters), and new or revised approaches in age-at-death (six chapters). The first section contains five chapters. Chapter 1 is a review of dental methods, whereas the next three chapters focus on dental root transparency for adult age-at-death estimation. Chapter 5 evaluates the dental age charts by Schour and Massler and by Ubelaker on recent children of European ancestry. Section 2 consists of seven chapters examining osteological indicators of age. It starts with a chapter on the nature and source of error in age-at-death estimation by Stephen Nawrocki (Chapter 6). Other chapters examine the accuracy and precision of macromorphoscopic changes in the sacrum, radiographic analysis of cartilage ossification, degenerative changes in the acetabulum, a comparison of the pubic symphysis methods, and two chapters on advances in determining age in fetal and subadult bones. Section 3 includes three chapters on histological methods and two chapters focusing on multifactorial methods. Chapter 13 examines the accuracy and precision of current histological methods. In Chapter 14, the authors investigate the use of frontal bone histology for estimating adult age, and in Chapter 15, Streeter presents her histological method for estimating age in subadults using developmental processes of the rib. One problem confronting biological anthropologists, especially in a medicolegal setting, is how to combine multiple indicators of age into a single summary age with a point estimate and valid range for the estimate. Uhl and Nawrocki (Chapter 16) test four methods (i.e., average, minimum and maximum overlapping ranges, and multiple linear regression) for developing a summary age based on multiple indicators. The final chapter of this section, and the book, compares the Todd, McKern and Stewart, Suchey- Brooks, and the ADBOU Age Estimation program for estimating age using pubic symphysis morphology. Accurate age-at-death estimation from human skeletal remains forms a vital part of the observations used in forensic osteological, bioarcheological, and paleodemographic analyses. However, age-at-death estimations are hindered by several biological and methodological issues. For these reasons, a book on recent advances in age-at-death methods has been needed. Age Estimation of the Human Skeleton does not address all the important issues related to age-at-death estimation, but it does take up some of them. One quality of the book is that it has chapters on methods for all life-stage categories, with good review chapters on methods for estimating age in fetal, subadult, and adult skeletal remains. As a collection of conference papers, the quality of the chapters range from fair to excellent. One thing I found missing was a summary chapter to pull all the works together. The new methods have generally been presented elsewhere, but this volume provides some more details and evaluates their validity. Age Estimation of the Human Skeleton might work for some instructors as a supplementary text in forensic anthropology or skeletal biology courses. There are a few chapters in this book that would be valuable for students in these courses to read. For example, Nawrocki’s chapter (Chapter 6) on error in age estimations is an excellent, but easy to read, overview of uncertainty that causes inaccuracy and imprecision in age-at-death estimations. Likewise, Chapter 16 by Uhl and Nawrocki discusses many of the statistical problems investigators must deal with when trying to determine age-at-death based on multiple indicators. Chapter 13 by Crowder and Pfeiffer is an excellent example of how to conduct a study testing the validity of age-at-death methods. Overall, Age Estimation of the Human Skeleton is well balanced and worth the relatively low price. Many forensic anthropologists will find it to be a good resource.
The Journal of forensic odonto-stomatology, 2011
Estimation of age at death is an essential part of reconstructing information from skeletal material. The aim of the investigation was to reconstruct the chronological age of an archaeological sample from Croatia using cranial skeletal remains as well as to make an evaluation of the methods used for age estimation. For this purpose, four age calculation methods were used: palatal suture closure, occlusal tooth wear, tooth root translucency and pulp/tooth area ratio. Cramer's V test was used to test the association between the age calculation methods. Cramer's V test showed high association (0.677) between age determination results using palatal suture closure and occlusal tooth wear, and low association (0.177) between age determination results using palatal suture closure and pulp/tooth area ratio. Simple methods like palatal suture closure can provide data about age at death for large number of individuals, but with less accuracy. More complex methods which require qualifi...
Journal of forensic sciences, 2018
This study provides an update on a quantitative method for immature age estimation based on postnatal deciduous mandibular tooth length. Two known sex and age skeletal collections from Western Europe were sampled (n = 97). Linear regression models for age estimated were calculated for each individual tooth, each sex, and sex combined sample using classical calibration. Prediction errors, residuals, and percentage of individuals whose real age fell within the 95% prediction interval were calculated. The teeth which develop earlier in life, the incisors and the first molar, showed the greatest precision, while the canine showed the least. This method has greater applicability to archeological skeletons or to children in developing countries than for use in North American or European forensic contexts. The method can be applied to incomplete or poorly preserved remains of unknown sex, particularly when dental radiographs are not an option or when teeth have been removed from the alveol...
Forensic Science International, 2018
The present study tests the accuracy of commonly adopted ageing methods based on the morphology of the pubic symphysis, auricular surface and cranial sutures. These methods are examined both in their traditional form as well as in the context of transition analysis using the ADBOU software in a modern Greek documented collection consisting of 140 individuals who lived mainly in the second half of the twentieth century and come from cemeteries in the area of Athens. The auricular surface overall produced the most accurate age estimates in our material, with different methods based on this anatomical area showing varying degrees of success for different age groups. The pubic symphysis produced accurate results primarily for young adults and the same applied to cranial sutures but the latter appeared completely inappropriate for older individuals. The use of transition analysis through the ADBOU software provided less accurate results than the corresponding traditional ageing methods in our sample. Our results are in agreement with those obtained from validation studies based on material from across the world, but certain differences identified with other studies on Greek material highlight the importance of taking into account intra-and inter-population variability in age estimation.