Estimation of age at death from the pubic bone: comparison of Suchey-Brooks, Berg and Hartnett methods

Estimating age at death is an essential part of identification when a body is discovered in the skeletal state. Several methods have been developed using the pubic bone in particular. The Suchey-Brooks method is the best known and most widely used. The more recent Berg and Hartnett methods have shown increased accuracy although they have not been widely tested.The aim of this study is to compare the Suchey-Brooks, Berg and Hartnett methods applicable to the pubic bones, to provide practical guidance to use these methods.

For this study, we used a French collection of mature forensic contemporary pubic bones. We included skeletal specimens from 67 females and 221 males over the age of 20. The evaluators successively and independently applied the Suchey-Brooks, Berg and Hartnett methods to each left pubic bone.

The Berg method reduced inaccuracy in females over 70 (12.5 vs. 22.2 years for Suchey-Brooks), while the Hartnett method showed improved performance in males over 60. Intra-observer agreement was almost perfect for the three methods, and inter-observer agreement was moderate or good depending on the method used and the sex.

The Berg and Hartnett methods were the most precise for estimating the age at death of older individuals. Using them in addition to the Suchey-Brooks method beyond phase V or VI would enable a better age at death estimation, provided there is no taphonomic degradation of the bone.