Abstract
Determining the age-at-death of human remains provides essential information for both forensic and archaeological scientists. For juveniles, it is possible to obtain highly accurate age estimates based on the known patterns of development of the skeleton. However, for adult remains estimating age is problematic. The majority of existing methods rely heavily on degenerative changes that take place in the skeleton as part of the aging process. These changes do not occur at the same rate in all individuals, leading to very broad age estimates (Aykroyd et al. 1999, Wittwer-Backofen et al. 2008). There is, therefore, a real need for the development of new methods for estimating age that are able to provide more accurate age estimates needed by forensic and archaeological scientists.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Title of host publication | Mechanisms Linking Aging, Diseases and Biological Age Estimation |
| Editors | Sara C. Zapico |
| Number of pages | 10 |
| Publisher | CRC Press |
| Publication date | 1 Jan 2017 |
| Pages | 47-56 |
| Chapter | 5 |
| ISBN (Print) | 978-1-4987-0969-9 |
| ISBN (Electronic) | 9781498709705 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - 1 Jan 2017 |
| Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Age estimation
- Archaeology
- Aspartic acid racemization
- Bone
- Burial environment
- Dentine
- Diagenesis
- Enamel
- Forensic applications
- Post mortem interval