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Proposal of new regression formulae for the estimation of age in infant skeletal remains from the metric study of the pars basilaris

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Abstract

In the context of physical and forensic anthropology, when a child’s skeleton is damaged or in poor condition, which is common, many of the metric methods for the estimation of skeletal age cannot be used. In these circumstances, those more resistant bones, such as the pars basilaris, will be most useful. The aims of this study were to test existing methods for estimating skeletal age from the metric study of the pars basilaris and to propose new regression formulae. One hundred fourteen individuals aged between 5 months of gestation and 6 years were analyzed; seven measures were taken from each pars basilaris using a digital caliper. The chronological age was compared with the estimated age using the methods published by Fazekas and Kósa in 1978 and by Scheuer and MacLaughlin in 1994. New regression formulae are proposed, obtained by classical calibration, which include confidence intervals at 50 and 97.5 % to express the error. With both methods, significant differences were observed; the method of Fazekas and Kósa shows a tendency to underestimate the age, and the method of Scheuer and MacLaughlin tends to overestimate it. The proposed formulae represent a good tool for estimating age in many different contexts because they are relatively easy to apply, although other analysis systems, such as Bayesian approach or geometric morphometry, offer more robust and effective results.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to D. Jose Antonio Muñoz, Managing Director; Maribel Martín, coordinator of services; and all the EMUCESA staff at the San Jose cemetery in Granada for their invaluable assistance; to the Magistrate Judge (Court of First Instance n° 5), responsible for the Registry Office of Granada; and to two anonymous reviewers for their insights and suggestions.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centro de Investigación, Pontificia Universidad Católica del Ecuador Sede en Esmeraldas (PUCESE), Esmeraldas, Ecuador

    Javier Irurita Olivares

  2. Laboratory of Anthropology, Department of Legal Medicine, Toxicology and Physical Anthropology, University of Granada, Avenida de la Investigación 11, Granada, 18071, Spain

    Inmaculada Alemán Aguilera

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  1. Javier Irurita Olivares
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  2. Inmaculada Alemán Aguilera
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Correspondence to Javier Irurita Olivares.

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Irurita Olivares, J., Alemán Aguilera, I. Proposal of new regression formulae for the estimation of age in infant skeletal remains from the metric study of the pars basilaris. Int J Legal Med 131, 781–788 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-016-1478-1

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