Age assessment of the Spitalfields cemetery population by rib phase analysis

Abstract

Accurate paleodemographic reconstruction depends in large part on the ability to estimate age at death from the skeleton. Thus, it is important to evaluate the reliability of standards utilized for this assessment. The rib phase technique has proven to be one of the most consistently reliable means of determining age in modern human adults. A recent study also demonstrated that this method can be applied to Neandertals because they exhibit the same pattern of age-related change. However, the efficacy of the rib phases in aging archaeological populations of anatomically modern humans has not been systematically examined. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to determine if ribs from the 16th to 18th century Spitalfields cemetery population (with church records of age at death) manifest a morphological aging pattern similar to that found in the recent specimens upon which the rib phase standards are based. Age was assessed on a sample of 87 individuals using only the sternal ends of the ribs without access to the rest of the skeleton or records of age and sex. Results indicated that Spitalfields ribs exhibit essentially the same aging patterns found in the ribs of modern Whites. Overall, the demographic profile generated from the ribs produced a good approximation of this sample in both range and distribution. Error was in the direction of underaging, and results for males were better than for females. The present findings indicate that the rib can be considered a reliable site for age estimation in archaeological populations. © 1995 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Age estimation from IV rib by phase analysis in Indian females

“…Following publication of sex-specific rib phase standards, Iscan and associates [5][6][7][8] tested the effectiveness of this method and found little inter-observer error and consistent reliability to within one phase of actual age. In the next decade, many others conducted tests of the rib phase and, again, their results confirmed the accuracy of this technique [9][10][11][12][13][14][15][16] . In 1987, Iscan and colleagues reported significant differences in the aging process of the ribs in whites and blacks 17 .…”

“…In 1987, Iscan and colleagues reported significant differences in the aging process of the ribs in whites and blacks 17 . Interestingly, the morphology of the phases is easily recognizable over time from the people of today back through historic cemetery samples, and even Neanderthals, as well as in diverse geographic regions 11,[13][14][15]18,19 .…”

Sexually dimorphic mandibular morphology in the first few years of life

“…Moreover, while testosterone is a more powerful hormone, estrogen has a much more direct effect on bone. These factors may also be at least partly responsible for the greater variability observed in females, not just in sexing, but also in other determinations such as age estimation (e.g., Krogman and Iscan, 1986;Iscan, 1989, 1995;Iscan and Loth, 1989;Loth, 1995).…”

Age-at-death estimation in Caucasian females from the morphological analysis of the sternal end of the fourth rib

“…_ Is ßcan developed the so-called ''phases method'', one of the most reliable indicator of age at death in adult skeleton: sternal end of the rib shows morphological changes associated with biological aging and _ Is ßcan divided these changes into 9 phases, corresponding to 9 different age groups [1,2]. _ Is ßcan provided a full description of the characteristics of each phase and confirmed the reproducibility of the results while other studies the accuracy of the method [3][4][5][6][7]. The aim of this study is to develop a model for determining the age from morphological analysis of the sternal end of the fourth rib, alternative to the _ Is ßcan's ''phases method'', regarding a sample of Caucasian females, considering that Caucasian males were already investigated in our institution in a similar way [8].…”