4356
Accession Number
26456
Author
Walker, Robert A.; Lovejoy, C. Owen
Author Affiliation
Kent State University. Departments of Anthropology and Biology
Title Of Article Chaper
Radiographic changes in the clavicle and proximal femur and their use in the determination of skeletal age at death
Title Of Journal Book
American journal of physical anthropology
Volume
68
Issue
1
Pages
67-78
Collation
2 figs., 7 tables
Reference Bibliography
refs.
ISSN
0002-9483
Language Of Text
English
Language Of Summary
English
Literature Type
Serial
Literature Level
Analytic
Abstract
Visually seriated radiographs of the proximal femur, proximal humerus, clavicle, and calcaneus from 130 individuals from the Hamann-Todd collection were examined as indicators of skeletal age at death. The clavicle demonstrated the most consistent relationship to age in both sexes. The same radiographs were also seriated by size-normalized optical density as a means of establishing relative radiolucency. In this context, visual seriation proved superior. The four sites studied showed strong divergence in response to age. Since each was sampling bone response from the same individual, it is concluded that bone loss is highly site specific. This demonstrates the individual character of specific skeletal sites. Visual inspection of clavicular radiographs, seriated on a populational basis, provides age estimates that are comparable to anatomical age indicators and provides independent estimates of skeletal age when included in the summary age method (1985: <i>Am. J. Phys. Anthropol. </i> 68:1-14).
Keywords
archaeozoology;age;death;bone;femur;clavicle;radiography; skeleton
pub_id
4356