Investigating the Utility of Age-Dependent Cranial Vault Thickness as an Aging Method for Juvenile Skeletal Remains on Dry Bone, Radiographic and Computed Tomography Scans

Age estimation, a component of the biological profile, contributes significantly to the creation of a post-mortem profile of an unknown set of human remains. This goal of this study is to: (1) refine the juvenile age estimation method of cranial vault thickness (CVT) through MARS modeling, (2) test the method on known age samples, and (3) compare CVT and dental development age estimations. Data for this study comes from computed tomography (CT) scans, radiographic images, and dry bone. CVT was measured at seven cranial landmarks (nasion, glabella, bregma, vertex, vertex radius, lambda and opisthocranion). Results indicate that CVT models vary in their predictive ability; vertex and lambda produce the best results. Predicted fit values and prediction intervals for CVT are larger, and less accurate than dental development age estimates. Aging by CVT could benefit from a larger known age sample composed of individuals older than 6 years old

New Approaches to Juvenile Age Estimation in Forensics: Application of Transition Analysis via the Shackelford et al. Method to a Diverse Modern Subadult Sample

Dental development is one of the most widely utilized and accurate methods available for estimating age in subadult skeletal remains. The timing of tooth growth and development is regulated by genetics and less affected by external factors, allowing reliable estimates of chronological age. Traditional methodology focuses on comparing tooth developmental scores to corresponding age charts. Using the Moorrees, Fanning, and Hunt (MFH) developmental scores, Shackelford and colleagues embed the dental development method in a statistical framework based on transition analysis. They generated numerical parameters underlining each “stage” and age-at-death distribution and applied them to fossil hominins and Neanderthals with limited application to modern humans. We use this same method on a subadult test sample (n = 201), representing modern individuals that may become part of the forensic record. We assess the probability coverage of the Shackelford et al. method derived from MFH standards as it applies to all available dentition. Results indicate promise: the age range at 90% and 95% confidence levels includes the chronological age of almost every individual tested. The maximum likelihood age estimates underestimate age by 0.5–2.5 years for individuals 0–15 years of age and by \u3e2.5 years for individuals 16–18 years of age, as previously shown. In an attempt to refijine the method, we adjusted the numerical parameters underlying the stages for developing teeth based on a combined modern reference sample (n = 1,964) and tested these revised parameters using the same test sample. The estimated ages from the modified method differ from the original Shackelford et al. methodology by underestimating age to a lesser degree. The modified method does include mean age-at-attainment values for earlier stages of several teeth, allowing for the calculation of narrower confidence intervals. While this study highlights areas of future research in refining dental developmental aging by transition analysis, it also demonstrates that the Shackelford et al. method is applicable and accurate when aging modern subadults in forensic work

Applying the Index of Care to the Mississippian Period: A Case Study of Treponematosis, Physical Impairment, and Probable Health-Related Caregiving From the Holliston Mills Site, TN

Bioarchaeologists and palaeopathologists have recently turned their attention towards one critical aspect of the study of the history of disease: health-related caregiving. In response, an approach, the bioarchaeology of care, and, within it, the web-based Index of Care (IoC) have been developed to enable the identification and interpretation of past caregiving. Here, we apply the IoC to Burial 86, a young adult (18–25 years) female from the late Mississippian period, Dallas cultural phase Holliston Mills site (40HW11; ca. ad 1348–1535), TN. Burial 86 exhibits pathologies specific to treponematosis. They also exhibit a suite of pathologies indicative of physical impairment, including a varus angular deformity in the right tibia that is potentially the result of a malaligned pathological fracture. Following the IoC, we determine that Burial 86 probably experienced moderate clinical impacts on several domains (e.g., musculoskeletal system) with various functional impacts on essential activities of daily living. This means that Burial 86 likely had a disability and likely received caregiving, though it is impossible to determine if the care was efficacious. That care was provided likely reflected the community of Holliston Mills\u27 more egalitarian socio-political structure, which was unusual for the late Mississippian. It may also reflect Burial 86\u27s agency, the presence of adequate resources at the site, as indicated by high frequencies of high status mortuary artifacts, or a combination of these factors. The mortuary program for Burial 86 does not indicate that they were marked as being different—in status or other social categories—than other community members. This study highlights how bioarchaeological evidence can be used to explore the downstream effects of chronic infections, such as treponematosis, throughout the body and across the life course, and the opportunities for health-related caregiving in past societies that these processes can potentially create