Estimating subadult age-at-death from skeletal remains: Dentition analysis
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Keywords
skeletal, dentition, subadult, osteology, forensic
Abstract
Estimating age-at-death of skeletal remains is a vital method of biological profiling. Dentition analysis is presented in this essay as a highly accurate and valuable means of estimating the age-at-death of juvenile skeletons. Throughout this essay prominent dental-aging methods will be critiqued and analysed for their accuracy and relevance to age-at-death estimation. It is argued that Gustafson and Koch (1974) and Ubelaker’s (1987) published standards present the most accurate estimation methods of age-at-death compared with competing standards. The application and reliability of these methods is illustrated through osteological individuation in forensic case studies and further demonstrated in medico-legal contexts.