- Age Estimation in Modern Forensic Anthropology

2012 ◽  
pp. 206-255
Keyword(s):  
Forensic Anthropology ◽  
Age Estimation

Bone Mineral Density Adult Age Estimation in Forensic Anthropology: A Test of the DXAGE Application

2018 ◽  
Vol 64 (4) ◽  
pp. 1125-1128 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jonathan D. Bethard ◽  
Jacqueline M. Berger ◽  
Justin Maiers ◽  
Ann H. Ross
Keyword(s):  
Bone Mineral Density ◽  
Bone Mineral ◽  
Forensic Anthropology ◽  
Age Estimation ◽  
Mineral Density ◽  
Adult Age ◽  
Adult Age Estimation

scholarly journals Age related changes of rib cortical bone matrix and the application to forensic age-at-death estimation

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Bonicelli ◽  
Peter Zioupos ◽  
Emily Arnold ◽  
Keith D. Rogers ◽  
Bledar Xhemali ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cortical Bone ◽  
Forensic Anthropology ◽  
Age Estimation ◽  
Expert Knowledge ◽  
Bone Matrix ◽  
Absolute Error ◽  
Error Rates ◽  
Human Anatomy ◽  
Age At Death ◽  
Age Related

AbstractForensic anthropology includes, amongst other applications, the positive identification of unknown human skeletal remains. The first step in this process is an assessment of the biological profile, that is: sex, age, stature and ancestry. In forensic contexts, age estimation is one of the main challenges in the process of identification. Recently established admissibility criteria are driving researchers towards standardisation of methodological procedures. Despite these changes, experience still plays a central role in anthropological examinations. In order to avoid this issue, age estimation procedures (i) must be presented to the scientific community and published in peer reviewed journals, (ii) accurately explained in terms of procedure and (iii) present clear information about the accuracy of the estimation and possible error rates. In order to fulfil all these requirements, a number of methods based on physiological processes which result in biochemical changes in various tissue structures at the molecular level, such as modifications in DNA-methylation and telomere shortening, racemization of proteins and stable isotopes analysis, have been developed. The current work proposes a new systematic approach in age estimation based on tracing physicochemical and mechanical degeneration of the rib cortical bone matrix. This study used autopsy material from 113 rib specimens. A set of 33 parameters were measured by standard bio-mechanical (nanoindentation and microindentation), physical (TGA/DSC, XRD and FTIR) and histomorphometry (porosity-ImageJ) methods. Stepwise regressions were used to create equations that would produce the best ‘estimates of age at death’ vs real age of the cadavers. Five equations were produced; in the best of cases an equation counting 7 parameters had an R2 = 0.863 and mean absolute error of 4.64 years. The present method meets all the admissibility criteria previously described. Furthermore, the method is experience-independent and as such can be performed without previous expert knowledge of forensic anthropology and human anatomy.

scholarly journals Identifying Methylation Patterns in Dental Pulp Aging: Application to Age-at-Death Estimation in Forensic Anthropology

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (7) ◽  
pp. 3717
Author(s):  
Sara C. Zapico ◽  
Quentin Gauthier ◽  
Aleksandra Antevska ◽  
Bruce R. McCord
Keyword(s):  
Dna Methylation ◽  
Forensic Anthropology ◽  
Dental Pulp ◽  
Age Estimation ◽  
Human Remains ◽  
Absolute Error ◽  
Chronological Age ◽  
Age At Death ◽  
Methylation Patterns ◽  
Age At Death Estimation

Age-at-death estimation constitutes one of the key parameters for identification of human remains in forensic investigations. However, for applications in forensic anthropology, many current methods are not sufficiently accurate for adult individuals, leading to chronological age estimates erring by ±10 years. Based on recent trends in aging studies, DNA methylation has great potential as a solution to this problem. However, there are only a few studies that have been published utilizing DNA methylation to determine age from human remains. The aim of the present study was to expand the range of this work by analyzing DNA methylation in dental pulp from adult individuals. Healthy erupted third molars were extracted from individuals aged 22–70. DNA from pulp was isolated and bisulfite converted. Pyrosequencing was the chosen technique to assess DNA methylation. As noted in previous studies, we found that ELOVL2 and FHL2 CpGs played a role in age estimation. In addition, three new markers were evaluated—NPTX2, KLF14, and SCGN. A set of CpGs from these five loci was used in four different multivariate regression models, providing a Mean Absolute Error (MAE) between predicted and chronological age of 1.5–2.13 years. The findings from this research can improve age estimation, increasing the accuracy of identification in forensic anthropology.

Dental age estimation: Demirjian’s versus the other methods in different populations. A literature review

2021 ◽  
Vol 61 (1_suppl) ◽  
pp. 125-129
Author(s):  
Antonio De Donno ◽  
Carmelinda Angrisani ◽  
Federica Mele ◽  
Francesco Introna ◽  
Valeria Santoro
Keyword(s):  
Forensic Anthropology ◽  
Age Estimation ◽  
Tooth Development ◽  
Meta Analysis ◽  
Estimation Method ◽  
Dental Age ◽  
Dental Age Estimation ◽  
Different Populations ◽  
Radiological Methods ◽  
Demirjian’S Method

Age estimation is an important issue in forensic anthropology and odontology, since it is applied to both the living and the dead. Studies have shown that assessing tooth development using radiological methods is a reliable way to estimate age, especially in children. Demirjian’s method is the most widely used estimation method for dental age evaluation. Over the years, many methods have been developed in order to asses which one predicts more accurately the age. In the literature, many populations were examined with these different methods and discordant results are described. This review aims to evaluate the studies in which Demirjian’s method was compared with Willems’, Cameriere’s, Nolla’s, Smith’s, Haavikko’s and Chaillet’s methods in order to estimate the most accurate dental age estimation method in different populations. Using the methodology described in the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis statement, the authors conducted a review of existing literature using three databases: PubMed, Google Scholar and Google Scopus.

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