Determining Age

Question 1

What are the 4 main issues with juvenile remains referring to burial and preservation

Answer 1

1. Lower bone mineral means more likely to decay
2. graves are smaller and shallower meaning less likely to be detected
3. Burial Traditions/Infanticide may mean the remains wont have a marked grave, or even have a formal burial
4. Inexperienced excavators may not recognise small bones as human

Question 2

What are the 4 main ways of determining age in sub-adult remains?

Answer 2

1. Linear increase in bone dimension
2. Growth, eruption and loss of decidous teeth
3. Growth and eruption of permanent teeth
4. Ossification of Epiphyses ( the end of a long bone)

Question 3

How would you estimate stature in sub-adults?

Answer 3

Reconstructing height from atrial measurements, and relate these to regression equations to estimate height

Question 4

What is the issue with estimating stature in sub-adults?

Answer 4

Long bones are often incomplete and fragmented

Question 5

ossification of the tibia happens between what ages?

Answer 5

16-20

Question 6

How would you use deciduous teeth to estimate age of a sub-adult?

Answer 6

The timing at which these teeth come through and are lost can be compared to known standards to give an estimated age

Question 7

What method would you use to measure dental growth after 13 post-natal months

Answer 7

Radiographs

Question 8

What method would you use to measure dental growth before 13 post-natal months

Answer 8

Growth lines

Question 9

What are the two main methods of determining adult age at death?

Answer 9

Dental Wear

Pubic Symphysis

Question 10

Why is pubic symphysis used to determine age in adults?

Answer 10

It is a non-weight bearing joint, which degenerates over time, it loses its sharp edges and shrivels

Question 11

why is dental wear used to determine age in adults?

Answer 11

Using the standards for age of eruption, teeth will have functional wear of them, when combined this gives an estimation of age. e.g. if M1 (Molar 1) erupted at 6, and has 19 years of functional damage, this indicates 25 year old remains, combine with other teeth for higher accuracy

Question 12

Adult age estimations are less precise than sub-adults because..

Answer 12

1. Age related changes happen less frequently in adults
2. Biological process involved in the degeneration of adults can be affected by environment (disease/physical activity)
3. Large overlaps of ages for stages in adult estimations

Question 13

What should results show in age estimation?

Answer 13

A range not an exact value