Schaefer Maureen C, Black Sue M
Anatomy and Forensic Anthropology, University of Dundee, Scotland, UK.
J Forensic Sci. 2005 Jul;50(4):777-84.
The accurate determination of age at death is a critical component in the analysis of human skeletal remains. Population specific techniques are often used without due consideration of the provenance of the material being studied. This communication considers the ages at which epiphyseal union occur in young Bosnian males and compares those findings to data published by McKern and Stewart on young North American soldiers killed during the Korean War. Of the ten epiphyses considered in this study, all elements were observed to be at least two years in advance in the Bosnian sample compared to the American sample. This article demonstrates that whilst standards based on an American sample produce broadly applicable age ranges for use on forensic work in the Balkans, the age ranges generated produce an upper age limit that is often two or more years older than the chronological age. Therefore, it is desirable, that wherever possible, appropriate standards should be devised for more accurate aging reflecting population specific profiles.
准确确定死亡年龄是分析人类骨骼遗骸的关键组成部分。特定人群的技术经常被使用，却没有充分考虑所研究材料的来源。本通讯考量了波斯尼亚年轻男性骨骺愈合的年龄，并将这些结果与麦肯和斯图尔特公布的关于朝鲜战争期间阵亡的北美年轻士兵的数据进行比较。在本研究中考虑的十个骨骺中，观察到波斯尼亚样本中的所有骨骼元素相比美国样本至少提前了两年。本文表明，虽然基于美国样本的标准为巴尔干地区的法医工作产生了大致适用的年龄范围，但所产生的年龄范围的上限往往比实际年龄大两岁或更多。因此，尽可能制定适当的标准以更准确地反映特定人群特征的年龄是可取的。
