Estimating age at death using the sternal end of the fourth ribs from Mexican males

The indicators proposed by İşcan et al. (1984) are said to reflect age changes that occur in the sternal end of the fourth rib. These indicators have been used to estimate age-at-death in adult skeletal samples. However, Isçan et al. developed their methods using a forensic sample from Florida (U.S.A.). In order to test the reproducibility of those methods we evaluate its accuracy for the fourth ribs by applying it to a sample of known age and sex but of different biological affinity: modern males from Mexico City. We found that the method developed by İşcan et al. underestimates age-at-death in the Mexican sample.