Age Estimation and Sex Determination in Human Skeletal Remains. A Test of the Common Methods Used in Anthropology for Sex Determination and Age Estimation Applied to Identified Human European Skeletal Collection (Bologna, Coimbra 19th-20th C.)

One of the main problems in reconstructing the biological profile of unidentified human remains is the reliability of the methods used. These methods are normally developed on modern identificated human skeletal collections, but human variability can introduce problematic biases when applied on osteological collections from different geografical and cronological contexts. This study test the reliability of selected macroscopic methods for sex determination: the index of sexualization of Acsadi and Nemeskeri, the Phenice method and for the age estimation: the synostosis of cranial sutures (Meindl and Lovejoy), the morphological variations at the pubic symphysis (Suchey and Brooks), the morphological variations at ileum surface (Lovejoy, et al.), the modifications of the sternal end of the fourth rib (Iscan et al.) and the variations of the degree of sacral vertebral body fusion (Belcastro et al.) on a large sample (n.489) of know sex and age from Certosa Cemetery of Bologna and “Colecção Esqueletos Identificados" of Coimbra. Regarding age, for each method was calculated the standard values of bias and inaccuracy. The method of pubic symphysis might be the most reliable for age estimation but we must consider the width of age ranges considered by the method. The values of inaccuracy are over 10 years in individuals older than 50 and 27 years in individuals older than 60. The index of sexualization confirm in more than 99% of cases the known sex and the Phenice method gave good results with the 87% of confirm. The reliability of the tested methods in the two european populations was confirmed, with the pelvis as the most diagnostic district, in particular the pubic symphysis. Nevertheless, the dramatic increase in values of bias and inaccuracy with increasing age confirms the need for new or revised age estimation methods that better suits the study of the remains of older individuals.