ABSTRACT
Forensic anthropology is an applied, case-driven, goal-oriented sub eld within skeletal biology (Ubelaker 2008). In keeping with the complexity of our negotiations among theory, method, and application, and in response to the demands of new casework and the diversity of legal systems both home and abroad, Blau and Ubelaker (2009a) encourage a dynamic understanding of forensic anthropology. As practitioners, forensic anthropologists seek to aid the medicolegal community in making identi cations for unknown, mostly skeletal, and o„en fragmentary human remains by rst developing a biological pro le (ABFA 2010). Using a combination of grossly observable and measurable morphological features on the available skeletal elements, we rely upon our technical expertise to estimate demographic parameters as they relate to the population-at-large, and isolate unique traits that characterize an individual as the individual (such as sex, ancestry, age at death, stature, pathology). We also look to identify those taphonomic variables that help to explain the circumstances surrounding the unknown individual’s death, deposition, and decomposition (including markers of peri-and postmortem trauma and approximations
Practicalities of Aging: ‹e Signi cance of Age at Death in Anthropology 182 Aging Takes Time: A Historical Overview 184 Aging Today: Current Trends in Estimation 188 Problems with Aging: Diªculties in Estimating Age at Death 190
Chronological and Biological Age 190 Phase-Aging 192 Choice of Indicators 193 Choice of Methods 194 Error, Bias, and Statistics 198
New Solutions to Some Aging Problems: Improving Age Estimation 201 Indicators and Methods 202
Choosing an Appropriate Indicator 203 Choosing an Appropriate Method 205
Statistics 207 Prior Distribution Problems 208 Calibrated Approaches 209 Getting Better with Age: Best Practices in Age Estimation 210
Age Estimation for the Juvenile 212 Age Estimation for the Adult 214
Adding up the Years: Chapter Summary of Age-at-Death Estimation 219 Questions 219 References 220
of time since death). We estimate these features with some degree of statistical certainty based upon our application of standard criteria, casework experience, and advanced techniques supported by interdisciplinary collaboration.
