Estimation of adult age‐at‐death from entheseal robusticity

A test using an identified Italian skeletal collection

Bibliographic Data

ID8312141
AuthorsM Milella (0000-0003-1027-6601, Department of Physical Anthropology, Institute of Forensic Medicine University of Bern Bern Switzerland, corresponding author), M G Belcastro (0000-0002-8932-8509, Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna Bologna Italy), Mariotti (0000-0002-6956-781X, Department of Biological, Geological and Environmental Sciences, Alma Mater Studiorum University of Bologna Bologna Italy), E Nikita (0000-0003-2094-5047, Science and Technology in Archaeology and Culture Research Center The Cyprus Institute Nicosia Cyprus)
Year2020
Volume173
Issue1
Pages190-199
Publication date2020-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueAmerican Journal of Physical Anthropology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0002-9483 • E-ISSN: 1096-8644
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/ajpa.24083
PMID32602120
OpenAlexW3039506526
LanguageEN
Citations received7
References cited71

OBJECTIVES: The present study tests the effectiveness of entheseal robusticity (ER) as a potential predictor of adult age-at-death by applying multiple regression models to a large contemporary identified skeletal sample. MATERIALS AND METHODS: ER was recorded for 23 bilateral postcranial entheses on 481 adult individuals (271 females and 210 males) from the Frassetto identified skeletal collection of Sassari (Italy), following the method of Mariotti et al. 2007. ER scores were used as predictors in multiple regression analyses with age as the dependent variable; the performance of the resulting models was tested through standard error of estimate, the correlation coefficient between predicted and documented age, and the percentage of correctly classified individuals. RESULTS: ER show a higher correlation with age in females, resulting in more accurate estimates when compared with those obtained for males. Age-at-death is overestimated for male individuals under 45 years old and underestimated for older individuals. Regression models including a reduced set of ER sites result in better estimates compared with those using the complete set of variables. DISCUSSION: Results suggest the potential usefulness of ER for the estimation of age, especially for female skeletal remains. If used with caution, ER may be a valid complement to existing methods for the reconstruction of the biological profile of skeletal remains of archaeological and forensic interest

Archaeology · Biology · Forensic anthropology · Geography · Linear regression · Postcrania · Regression · Regression analysis · Standard error · Statistics · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Demography · Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies · Forensic Entomology and Diptera Studies · Mathematics · Medicine

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