Determining Human Age at Death Using Cremated Bone Microstructure

DOI: 10.26717/BJSTR.2017.01.000304

Received: August 17, 2017;   Published: August 28, 2017

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Abstract

For age determination of cremated bones of variable stages of preservation the method of Kerley and Ubelaker [1] was chosen. As a new criterion to determine individual age the lamina fundamental is internal of the compact bone was used [2]. Examinations of the intact osteons of individuals from Roman graveyards show that after cremation at temperatures between 450 and 650°C age determination is possible only by counting central haversian canals. At this temperature level, a qualitative age determination is limited. The examination of modern postmortem bones indicates that the four criteria defined by Kerley [3] are necessary to determine the physiological age of cremated human bone specimens with different burning degrees more precisely and that the lamina fundamental is internal should be included as an additional criterion.

|Abstract| |Introduction| |Historical Background| |Materials and Methods| |Results| |Discussion| |Acknowledgement| |References|