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A validation study of the Stoyanova et al. method (2017) for age-at-death estimation quantifying the 3D pubic symphyseal surface of adult males of European populations

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Abstract

The age-at-death estimation thresholds have recently been shifted towards a more objective assessment of the aging process. Such a non-subjective approach offers quantitative methods of age estimation; for instance, the method relating to the surfaces of pubic symphyses of males published by Stoyanova et al. (J Forensic Sci 62:1434–1444, 2017). A validation study was conducted to test the method performance in European samples. The sample consisted of 96 meshes of pubic symphyses of male individuals (known sex and age) that came from four different samples (two Portuguese collections, one Swiss, and one Crete). Stoyanova’s method based on five regression models (three univariate and two multivariate models) performed worse in our sample, but only when the whole sample (without age limitation) was included. A sample limited to individuals under 40 years of age achieved better results in our study. The best results were reached through the thin plate spline algorithm (TPS/BE) with a root mean square error of 5.93 years and inaccuracy of 4.47 years. Generally, the multivariate regression models did not contribute to better age estimation. In our sample in all age categories, age was systematically underestimated. The quantitative method tested in this study works best for individuals under 40 years of age and provides a suitable basis for further research.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, for providing access to the 21st Century Identified Skeletal Collection and the Coimbra Identified Skeletal Collection (CISC). We also thank Dr. Elena Kranioti for providing access to the Cretan Collection and Ms. Lada Šťovíčková for digitizing it. Last but not least, we would like to thank Dr. Jocelyn Desideri and those at the Laboratory of Prehistoric Archaeology and Anthropology of the University of Geneva for providing access to the Simon Collection, and to Dr. François Marchal for providing the David SLS-2 surface scanner. Finally, we would like to thank to Ms. Šárka Roušavá for the linguistic corrections.

Funding

This research has been supported by the research grant GAUK No. 642218.

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Author notes

  1. Jana Velemínská, Eugénia Cunha and Jaroslav Brůžek contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anthropology and Human Genetics, Faculty of Science, Charles University, Viničná 7, 128 43, Prague 2, Czech Republic

    Anežka Kotěrová, Jana Velemínská & Jaroslav Brůžek

  2. Laboratory of Forensic Anthropology, Centre for Functional Ecology, Department of Life Sciences, University of Coimbra, Calçada Martim de Freitas, 3000-456, Coimbra, Portugal

    Eugénia Cunha

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  1. Anežka Kotěrová
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Correspondence to Anežka Kotěrová.

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Kotěrová, A., Velemínská, J., Cunha, E. et al. A validation study of the Stoyanova et al. method (2017) for age-at-death estimation quantifying the 3D pubic symphyseal surface of adult males of European populations. Int J Legal Med 133, 603–612 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-018-1934-1

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