Department of Archaeology, Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia, V5A 1S6 Canada.
Centre for Human Evolution Research, Department of Earth Sciences, The Natural History Museum, London SW7 5BD, United Kingdom.
Forensic Sci Int. 2021 Oct;327:110943. doi: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2021.110943. Epub 2021 Aug 13.
Age estimation is one of the crucial first steps in the identification of human skeletal remains in both forensic and archeological contexts. In the postnatal period, age is traditionally estimated from dental development or skeletal growth, typically long bone diaphyseal length. However, in many occasions other methods are required. This study provides alternative means of estimating age of juvenile remains from the size of several cranial bones and the mandible. A sample of 185 identified juvenile skeletons between birth and 13 years of age from two European collections were used (Lisbon and Spitalfields). Measurements of the frontal, occipital-lateralis, occipital-basilaris, occipital-squamous, zygomatic, maxilla, and mandible were used to calculate classical calibration regression formulae for the sexes combined. The sample was divided into three age groups birth-2 years, 2-6 years, and 2-12.9 years, depending on bone and its growth trajectory. For all the bones, measurements of the youngest age groups yielded the most precise age estimates. The vault bones on average yielded the best performing models, with the frontal bone having the most precise of all. The mandible performed on par with the best performing cranial bones, particularly in individuals under the age of 2 years. This study provides one of the most comprehensive approaches to juvenile age estimation based on bones of the skull, providing a resource that potentially can help estimate age of juvenile skeletons from a variety of circumstances.
年龄估算是法医学和考古学中鉴定人类骨骼遗骸的关键步骤之一。在出生后时期，传统上通过牙齿发育或骨骼生长来估计年龄，通常是长骨骨干长度。然而，在许多情况下需要使用其他方法。本研究提供了从几个颅骨和下颌骨大小来估计幼年遗骸年龄的替代方法。使用了来自两个欧洲收藏的 185 个已确定的从出生到 13 岁的幼年骨骼样本（里斯本和斯皮塔菲尔德）。测量了额骨、枕外侧、枕基底、枕鳞、颧骨、上颌骨和下颌骨，以计算男女混合的经典校准回归公式。根据骨骼及其生长轨迹，样本分为三个年龄组：出生-2 岁、2-6 岁和 2-12.9 岁。对于所有骨骼，最小年龄组的测量值产生了最精确的年龄估计值。颅顶骨的平均表现最佳，额骨的表现最为精确。下颌骨与表现最佳的颅骨具有相同的性能，特别是在 2 岁以下的个体中。本研究提供了基于颅骨骨骼的最全面的幼年年龄估计方法之一，为各种情况下估计幼年骨骼的年龄提供了潜在的资源。
