Age estimation accuracies from black South African os coxae

Area of Science:

• Forensic Anthropology
• Bioarchaeology
• Human Osteology

Background:

• Accurate age estimation from skeletal remains is crucial for legal, ethical, and archaeological purposes.
• Established methods like Brooks and Suchey (pubic symphysis) and Buckberry and Chamberlain (auricular surface) are widely used but were developed on American populations.
• The applicability of these methods to diverse populations, such as black South Africans, requires validation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the accuracy of age estimation using morphological changes on the pubic symphysis and auricular surface.
• To evaluate the reliability of the Brooks and Suchey (1990) and Buckberry and Chamberlain (2002) methods in a black South African population.
• To compare the performance of these methods between sexes and sides (left vs. right) of the os coxae.

Main Methods:

• Morphological age-related changes on the pubic symphysis and auricular surface were examined in 197 black South African individuals of known age.
• Age estimation was performed using the descriptive criteria from Brooks and Suchey (1990) and Buckberry and Chamberlain (2002).
• Statistical analysis included correlation coefficients, inaccuracies, and bias calculations for each method, sex, and side.

Main Results:

• The pubic symphysis method demonstrated lower inaccuracies and bias compared to the auricular surface method.
• Males exhibited lower inaccuracies and bias than females across both skeletal elements.
• Despite the general reliability of the Buckberry and Chamberlain (2002) method, the pubic symphysis proved to be a more accurate age estimator in this specific population.

Conclusions:

• The pubic symphysis method, using Brooks and Suchey (1990) criteria, is a more reliable estimator of age-at-death than the auricular surface method in the studied black South African population.
• Both methods require refinement to improve accuracy when applied to this demographic.
• Further research and methodological adjustments are recommended for more precise age estimation in diverse populations.