Dead Men DO Tell Tales: Determining Age, Sex, and Paleopathology of the Human Skeleton PDF

Dead Men DO Tell Tales: Determination of Sex Tips to keep in mind Determining Age, Sex, and...

Dead Men DO Tell Tales: Determination of Sex Tips to keep in mind Determining Age, Sex, and Male and female human skeletons differ both in Multiple features on each bone can be used to determine sex. Paleopathology of the general shape and size. However, patterns of Human Skeleton sexual dimorphism can vary among groups. It is common for some of these features to appear more “male” and others “female” – if this happens, sex is determined by the greatest number of features. For example, if the skull demonstrates 4 male-like traits, and 7 female-like traits, then you would classify the skull as females. For example, male Asian skeletal remains can be Based on workshops by less robust than female Native American skeletal It is difficult to impossible to determine the sex of infant and juvenile Valerie Dean O’Loughlin, Ph.D. remains. remains. Most infant/juvenile remains appear “female-like” until well Assistant Professor of Anatomy after puberty. Indiana University Sex determination should be made with respect to the general size/ and Thus, one cannot use size as the only factor to robusticity patterns of the population from which the skeletal remains Tori Randall, Ph.D. determine sex. The most reliable indicator of sex came. Professor, San Diego City College is the os coxae (hip bones), followed by the skull. Like reading an EKG, determining sex of a skeleton is an art. It takes Anthropologist, San Diego Museum of Man great practice to precisely determine sex. Sex Differences in Os Coxae Os Coxae Feature Male Characteristic Female Characteristic Superior Inlet Heart shaped Spacious, wide and oval General Size More robust and muscle-marked Less robust Obturator Foramen Larger and oval Smaller and triangular Acetabulum Larger, directed more forward/ Smaller, directed more Anteriorly Laterally Greater Sciatic Notch Narrow and deep Wide and shallow Body of Pubis Short, triangular Longer, more rectangular Subpubic Angle Narrow, V-shaped Broader, more convex (area underneath the two pubic bones) Preauricular Sulcus Usually absent Usually present (depression between greater sciatic notch and sacroiliac articulation) Aging by Pubic Symphysis The surface of the pubic symphysis undergoes changes as we age. It has proven to be a good, reliable indicator of age. Typically, the young adult pubic symphysis appears billowed and rugged, but by age 35 it becomes more worn and develops a rim. After age 35, the surface further erodes and degenerates.  Sex Differences in the Skull Skull Feature Male Characteristic Female Characteristic General size More robust More gracile/delicate Nuchal Crest Well-demarcated nuchal External surface of occipital (prominence on back of lines and a prominent bump bone is smooth, with no skull, in occipital region) or “hook” bony projections here Mastoid Process Large, projects below the Smaller external auditory canal Supra-orbital margin Thick, rounded, blunt Thin, sharp border (upper orbit rim) border Supra-orbital ridge Prominent Little or no prominence (“brow ridges”) Mental Eminence Squarish, greater forward More pointed (versus (chin) projection squarish), little forward projection Gonial Angle Flared, Less obtuse, 125 degrees (side of jaw angle) degrees (typically, about 90 degrees) Determination of Age Aging by the Skull There are many methods to determine the age at death After the os coxae, the skull (cranium plus of a skeleton. mandible) is the next most reliable structure from which to determine the sex. Some of these methods work best for juvenile/ immature remains, whereas others may work best for The skull exhibits a varying degree of sexual adult skeletal remains. dimorphism. Classes commonly used for skeletal remains: However, this dimorphism can vary from 1) fetal (before birth), 2) infant (birth – 3 yrs), population to population. 3) child (4-12 yrs), 4) adolescent (13-19 yrs), 5) young adult (20-34 yrs), 6) middle adult (35-49 Thus, one should realize that sex determination yrs), 7) old adult (50+ yrs) from the skull is dependent upon the population. The figure below shows the 10 areas where sutures should be examined. Each suture should be Aging by Cranial Suture Closure graded with the following scale: 0=open suture, 1=minimal closure, 2=significant closure of suture, 3=completely obliterated suture. The numbers should be added together and a raw Other Age Determination Methods “score” is given, which with the two tables, could be used to estimate age. Cranial sutures fuse progressively as one ages. Typically, the anteriorly-placed sutures (coronal) fuse Subadult/Juvenile remains can be aged with first, followed by the more posteriorly-placed sutures (i.e., sagittal and lambdoidal, respectively). the following methods: Dental eruption However, there is considerable variability in closure Epiphyseal union rates, so this aging method should be used in Dental attrition (wear) – sometimes conjunction with another methods. One cranial feature that has a high reliability rate is the Composite score 0 Mean Age --------------- Standard Deviation (yrs) ----------------- Adult remains can be aged with the spheno-occipital synchondrosis (at the base of the 1-2 30.5 9.6 following methods: skull), which fuses between 20 and 25 years for over 3-6 34.7 7.8 7-11 39.4 9.1 Dental attrition (wear) 95% of populations studied. 12-15 45.2 12.6 Cranial suture closure 16-18 48.8 10.5 19-20 51.5 12.6 Pubic symphysis changes 21 --------------- ---------------------  Aging by Dental Eruption Aging by Epiphysial Fusion Determination of Stature There is a correlation between long bone length and stature. This correlation varies among populations; even between males and females. Researchers have used skeletal remains from modern populations to develop “formulas” to estimate stature. Formulas are both sex and population dependent. It is unclear what error is introduced when these formulas are used with archaeological specimens Paleopathology The following table lists formulas for three populations. The study of diseases in ancient populations, as revealed by skeletal remains. All measurements of the bones should be maximum length measurements. While many pathologies can be detected in the skeleton, these cases typically represent the more These bone measurements preferably should be severe forms of pathologies. taken with an osteometric board. For example, only the more severe cases of Of the bones listed, the femur typically provides the most accurate stature estimation. tuberculosis will leave evidence of such on the skeleton. Thus, when examining evidence of pathology in skeletal remains, one must realize that some less serious forms will not be detected. Paleopathology Cancer What are some pathologies/anomalies that can be detected in the skeleton? Trauma (recent or healed fractures, dislocations, subluxations) Some infectious diseases, like tuberculosis, osteomyelitis (infection/ inflammation of the bone), leprosy, syphilis, other infections Metabolic/nutritional disorders, like scurvy, rickets, osteoporosis, osteomalacia Blood (hemopoietic) disorders, such as anemias, leukemias (sometimes), myelomas Endocrine disorders, such as pituitary gigantism, dwarfism Benign and malignant tumors Arthritis (osteoarthritis, gout, rheumatoid arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis which causes the characteristic ‘bamboo spine’) Caries (cavities) and other dental pathologies Skeletal dysplasias, such as achondroplasia (dwarfism), osteogenesis imperfecta (characterized by numerous fractures) Scoliosis (lateral curvature of spine), kyphosis (increased anterior curvature in thoracic spine)  Trephination Acromegaly Cultural Modification  Leishmaniasis Thalassemia Osteoblastic Meningioma Syphilis Syphilis Exostosis or Syphilis Syphilis Surfer’s Ear Exostosis or Tuberculosis Tuberculosis Surfer’s Ear Trauma Amputation Infection