Age estimation using vertebral bone spurs; Testing the efficacy of three methods on a European population
Age-at-death estimation is an essential step in both bioarchaeological and forensic studies when human remains are found, as this can also contribute to the identification of the individual. It is critical that age-at-death methods be tested verified in various populations, to obtain the most accura...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2022-12-01
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| Series: | Forensic Science International: Reports |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2665910722000470 |
| _version_ | 1811294622981292032 |
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| author | Iris F. Sluis Bjørn P. Bartholdy Menno L.P. Hoogland Sarah A. Schrader |
| author_facet | Iris F. Sluis Bjørn P. Bartholdy Menno L.P. Hoogland Sarah A. Schrader |
| author_sort | Iris F. Sluis |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Age-at-death estimation is an essential step in both bioarchaeological and forensic studies when human remains are found, as this can also contribute to the identification of the individual. It is critical that age-at-death methods be tested verified in various populations, to obtain the most accurate estimation, making research into new age-at-death methods also imperative. Since osteophyte formation on the vertebral column increases with age, this can be used as a possible method of age-at-death estimation. Snodgrass (2004), Watanabe and Terazawa (2006) and Praneatpolgrang et al. (2019) have tested this method before and have provided promising results. We test the efficacy of Snodgrass (2004), Watanabe and Terazawa (2006), and Praneatpolgrang et al. (2019) on a 19th-century archivally recorded Dutch population. A total of 88 individuals, 40 males, and 48 females were scored for the degree of osteophyte formation on the vertebral column. In addition to testing the three methods above, population-specific regression equations were developed and tested. Accuracy percentages for estimating the age-at-death based on the mean osteophyte score of the entire vertebral column were obtained for all three methods (73.86%, 76.14%, and 72.73%, respectively). In this study, a general pattern of osteophyte formation could be established, which is useful for estimating the age at death. We therefore recommend that this method can be used, cautiously as a means of age-at-death estimation. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-13T05:20:11Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-62a14e04778c4b788bd20e7bf2265969 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2665-9107 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-13T05:20:11Z |
| publishDate | 2022-12-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Forensic Science International: Reports |
| spelling | doaj.art-62a14e04778c4b788bd20e7bf22659692022-12-22T03:00:46ZengElsevierForensic Science International: Reports2665-91072022-12-016100301Age estimation using vertebral bone spurs; Testing the efficacy of three methods on a European populationIris F. Sluis0Bjørn P. Bartholdy1Menno L.P. Hoogland2Sarah A. Schrader3Faculty of law, Maastricht University, Minderbroedersberg 4–6, 6211LK Maastricht, the Netherlands; Correspondence to: Molepaed 26, 8629PJ Scharnegoutum, the Netherlands.Faculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, Einsteinweg 2, 2333CC Leiden, the NetherlandsFaculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, Einsteinweg 2, 2333CC Leiden, the NetherlandsFaculty of Archaeology, Leiden University, Einsteinweg 2, 2333CC Leiden, the NetherlandsAge-at-death estimation is an essential step in both bioarchaeological and forensic studies when human remains are found, as this can also contribute to the identification of the individual. It is critical that age-at-death methods be tested verified in various populations, to obtain the most accurate estimation, making research into new age-at-death methods also imperative. Since osteophyte formation on the vertebral column increases with age, this can be used as a possible method of age-at-death estimation. Snodgrass (2004), Watanabe and Terazawa (2006) and Praneatpolgrang et al. (2019) have tested this method before and have provided promising results. We test the efficacy of Snodgrass (2004), Watanabe and Terazawa (2006), and Praneatpolgrang et al. (2019) on a 19th-century archivally recorded Dutch population. A total of 88 individuals, 40 males, and 48 females were scored for the degree of osteophyte formation on the vertebral column. In addition to testing the three methods above, population-specific regression equations were developed and tested. Accuracy percentages for estimating the age-at-death based on the mean osteophyte score of the entire vertebral column were obtained for all three methods (73.86%, 76.14%, and 72.73%, respectively). In this study, a general pattern of osteophyte formation could be established, which is useful for estimating the age at death. We therefore recommend that this method can be used, cautiously as a means of age-at-death estimation.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2665910722000470Vertebral osteophytesAge-at-death estimationBioarchaeologyForensic sciencesForensic anthropologyEurope |
| spellingShingle | Iris F. Sluis Bjørn P. Bartholdy Menno L.P. Hoogland Sarah A. Schrader Age estimation using vertebral bone spurs; Testing the efficacy of three methods on a European population Forensic Science International: Reports Vertebral osteophytes Age-at-death estimation Bioarchaeology Forensic sciences Forensic anthropology Europe |
| title | Age estimation using vertebral bone spurs; Testing the efficacy of three methods on a European population |
| title_full | Age estimation using vertebral bone spurs; Testing the efficacy of three methods on a European population |
| title_fullStr | Age estimation using vertebral bone spurs; Testing the efficacy of three methods on a European population |
| title_full_unstemmed | Age estimation using vertebral bone spurs; Testing the efficacy of three methods on a European population |
| title_short | Age estimation using vertebral bone spurs; Testing the efficacy of three methods on a European population |
| title_sort | age estimation using vertebral bone spurs testing the efficacy of three methods on a european population |
| topic | Vertebral osteophytes Age-at-death estimation Bioarchaeology Forensic sciences Forensic anthropology Europe |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2665910722000470 |
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