Virginia Galera, 1 Ph.D.; Douglas H. Ubelaker, 2 Ph.D.; and Lee-Ann C. Hayek, 2 Ph.D. Comparison of Macroscopic Cranial Methods of Age Estimation Applied to Skeletons from the Terry Collection REFERENCE: Galera V, Ubelaker DH, Hayek LC. Comparison of (2) considers pubic and auricular surface metamorphosis, trabecu- macroscopic cranial methods of age estimation applied to skeletons lar involution of the proximal femur, cranial suture closure and from the Terry Collection. J Forensic Sci 1998;43(5):933–939. dental wear. These methods offer superior results to single indica- tor systems, but frequently their use is limited by incomplete or ABSTRACT: A total of 963 skeletons (408 Whites and 555 Blacks) badly damaged remains. In addition, radiography may not be avail- from the Terry Collection were studied to examine macroscopic able to some investigators. cranial methods of age estimation. The methods of Acsa ´di and Nem- eske ´ri, Masset, Baker and Meindl and Lovejoy were applied to Only results on the cranial suture methods are presented here. every skull. The results indicate that the most accurate techniques Results of our testing of the other aging methods will be published in this application were those that consider endocranial suture clo- separately. sure. The methods of Acsa ´di and Nemeske ´ri and Masset were the most accurate in all the subsamples (by population, sex, sex within Materials and Methods population and in total), although the relative accuracy could vary in application to other populations. Materials KEYWORDS: forensic science; forensic anthropology, physical The Terry Collection contains the skeletal remains of 1700 anthropology, Terry Collection, cranial age estimation, macro- White and Black dissecting-room cadavers that were assembled at scopic methods Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and later transferred to the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC. Although the sample is large and well documented, issues remain Aging has been of scholarly interest throughout time and the regarding the extent to which it represents American populations world. A large number of researchers have studied this process, of today or even from the time that the collection was assembled. hoping to understand its origin, evolution, and consequences, as Comparative studies conducted with contemporary samples have well as to try to combat it. Usually, people are more conscious of documented differences that likely represent regional variability and worried about what happens to the external body, but the aging or secular change (3). The Terry Collection is composed of individ- process affects every part of the organism, at every biological level, uals originating from the lower socio-economic groups and thus including the skeleton. Physical anthropologists have been is not representative of total American society or even all individu- involved directly in diagnosing the skeletal age of individuals for als from the St. Louis area. Despite these limitations, shared by forensic and archaeological purposes. Some of these specialists all other such collections, the Terry Collection offers a splendid have investigated skeletal changes throughout life and have devel- opportunity to test different methods of age estimation on individu- oped various methods to estimate age at death. als of known age at death. This study is part of a research project to examine the accuracy A total of 963 skeletons were studied, of which 408 were Whites of the most frequently utilized macroscopic methods for diagnos- and 555 Blacks. These individuals were chosen at random, but ing the age at death of individuals represented by skeletal remains selected so that all age categories were represented. It was not in the Terry Collection. Although many of these age methods have possible to examine an equal number of individuals in each age undergone periodic revision, this study tests all of them on the category because of the unequal distribution of ages within the same population of White and Black Americans. This investigation Terry Collection. Considering the limitations of the collection, the examines age changes in bone that occur throughout the adult years age distribution of the sample utilized was the most uniform pos- rather than among the immature. sible. Two multifactorial methods are of special interest. The complex As shown in Table 1, Blacks are better represented (larger sam- method of Acsa ´di and Nemeske ´ri (1), largely employed in Europe, ple sizes) than Whites in the youngest and oldest ages. When the estimates age from observations on cranial suture closure, meta- sample size is analyzed by sex, White males have greater represen- morphosis of the pubic symphysis and radiographic translucency tation between the ages of 36 and 75 years, while White females of the proximal femur and humerus. The method of Lovejoy et al. have more total individuals in the older age categories. The mean age for the Black and White male and female samples 1 Titular professor, Department of Anthropology, Science Faculty, Alcala ´ University, Alcala ´ de Henares, Madrid, Spain. (Table 2) reflects the above discussed limitations of sample size. 2 Curator, Department of Anthropology, and chief mathematical statisti- Mean age is ten years higher for Whites than for Blacks. In both cian, respectively, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Insti- groups, females are older than males. The mean age of the total tution, Washington, DC. sample, 54.6 years, is very high as a result of the large number of Received 29 April 1996; and in revised form 24 Sept. 1997, 1 Dec. 1997, 5 Feb. 1998; accepted 6 Feb. 1998. very elderly individuals. 933 Copyright © 1998 by ASTM International