Deck 9: Estimation of Age at Death

Question 1

Which of the following sutures are the most useful for estimating age at death of a 40-year-old person?

A) Ectocranial sutures
B) Endocranial sutures
C) Palatal sutures
D) All of the above

Answer 1

A

Question 2

Which of the following stages of epiphyseal union would appear in adults?

A) Unfused
B) Fused
C) Obliterated
D) All of the above

Answer 2

C

Question 3

If you find a mandible with fully erupted permanent teeth (including third molars), what is the minimum age at death?

A) 15 years
B) 21 years
C) 35 years
D) 50 years

Answer 3

B

Question 4

A subadult skeleton is found with a full set of deciduous teeth and no permanent teeth erupted. In addition, none of the epiphyses of the long bones and none of the bones of the os coxae are fused. What age was this child when he/she died?

A) 0 to 1 year
B) 2 to 5 years
C) 6 to 10 years
D) Over 10 years

Question 5

Which of the following methods for estimating the age at death of subadults is least accurate?

A) Long bone lengths
B) Union of primary ossification centers
C) Tooth formation
D) Epiphyseal union

Question 6

Which of the following methods is least useful for estimating the age at death of teenagers?

A) Long bone lengths
B) Union of primary ossification centers
C) Tooth formation
D) All of the above

Question 7

Which of the following methods for estimating the age at death of subadults is most useful for children under 10?

A) Long bone lengths
B) Union of primary ossification centers
C) Tooth formation
D) All of the above

Question 8

Which of the following methods for estimating the age at death of subadults is most useful for teenagers?

A) Long bone lengths
B) Union of primary ossification centers
C) Tooth eruption
D) All of the above

Question 9

Which of the following is not a method for estimating the age at death of subadults?

A) Long bone lengths
B) Union of primary ossification centers
C) Tooth formation
D) Pubic faces

Question 10

If the suture closure score from the cranial vault is 15 and the endocranial sutures are obliterated, there is no need to feel that there is inconsistency between the ages calculated from these two areas.

Question 11

A fragment of a femur is found with the epiphysis of the greater trochanter fused; associated with it is a complete radius with complete fusing of both of its epiphyses. What is the most likely age of this person at the time of death?

A) 18 years
B) 20 years
C) 22 years
D) 25 years

Question 12

A symphyseal surface is found with ridges and furrows, no beveling, and no definition of the extremities. The age of the individual at death was probably:

A) <20
B) 20-24
C) 25-29
D) 30-34

Question 13

Which of the following sutures are the most useful for estimating age at death of persons over 50?

A) Ectocranial sutures
B) Endocranial sutures
C) Palatal sutures
D) All of the above

Question 14

Which of the following sutures are the most accurate for estimating age at death?

A) Ectocranial sutures
B) Endocranial sutures
C) Palatal sutures
D) All of the above

Question 15

Which of the following sutures close and obliterate with age?

A) Ectocranial sutures
B) Endocranial sutures
C) Palatal sutures
D) All of the above

Question 16

A skull with female characteristics is found with a fourth rib whose sternal end has sharpened edges and an irregular rim. What is the most likely age of this individual?

A) Under 20
B) 20-29
C) 30-39
D) 40 -49

Question 17

Which of the following characteristics of the sterna rib ends are indicative of old age?

A) Deteriorating surface bone
B) U-shaped surface contour
C) Sharp with thin walls
D) All of the above

Question 18

Which of the following characteristics of the sterna rib ends are first to show changes related to age?

A) Surface bone
B) Surface contour
C) Rim edge
D) All of the above

Question 19

An auricular surface is found with striations, coarse granularity, little apical activity, slight retroauricular activity and no porosity. The age of the individual at death was probably:

A) 20-24
B) 25-29
C) 30-34
D) 35-39

Question 20

Which of the following characteristics of the auricular surface of the os coxae are last to show changes related to age?

A) Billowing
B) Apical activity
C) Retroauricular area bone
D) Granularity

Question 21

Which of the following characteristics of the auricular surface of the os coxae are first to show changes related to age?

A) Billowing
B) Apical activity
C) Retroauricular area bone
D) Bone porosity

Question 22

If a pelvis with a pubic face that matches the characteristics of the 25-to-29-year age bracket is found in the vicinity of a skull that has a cranial vault suture score of 6, it is not possible they are from the same individual.

Question 23

A pubic face from a male is found with a granular appearance, a ventral complete rampart, a dorsal plateau, an undefined upper extremity, and a defined lower extremity. These traits indicate the person was probably in his 20s when he died.

Question 24

Age calculated from the cranial vault sutures is less accurate than age obtained from the pubic faces.

Question 25

A subadult cranium is found with a mandible. All fontanelles are closed on the cranium but the right and left halves of the mandible are still separate. It is likely that these come from the same individual.

Question 26

The amount of union of primary ossification centers can be used to estimate the age at death of adults.

Question 27

The accuracy of estimations of the age at death from the lengths of subadult long bones decreases with older children.

Question 28

A subadult tibia is discovered that is 240 mm long. Since a six year old child from this area has been missing since last year, this femur could belong to that child.

Question 29

A subadult femur is discovered that is 260 mm long. Since a six year old child from this area has been missing since last year, this femur could belong to that child.

Question 30

A fetal tibia is discovered that is 63 mm long. Since the length of this bone is 89.9% of the length of the femur, this fetus was near birth when he/she died.

Question 31

The methods for estimating the age at death of adults are based on the deterioration of the skeleton through time.

Question 32

Estimations of the age at death of subadults are not as accurate as estimations of the age of adults.

Question 33

There are several changes to histological structures that can be used to estimate age at death in the skeleton and dentition.

Question 34

The deciduous teeth of a subadult mandible are examined and shown to be completely formed, including the apex of the roots. The person represented by this jaw was at least 4 years old when he/she died.

Question 35

The accuracy of estimations of the age at death of subadults from permanent tooth formation is not dependant on sex and ancestral group.

Question 36

Changes through time to the pubic faces, auricular surface of the os coxae, and sterna rib ends all make the bone "look" older.

Question 37

The age changes to the auricular surface of the os coxae are similar to those of the pubic faces.

Question 38

A symphyseal surface that is eroded with erratic ossification indicates an old person.

Question 39

A symphyseal surface that is surrounded by a rim indicates a young person.

Question 40

A symphyseal surface with sharp ridges and furrows indicates a young person.

Question 41

A femur is found with fusion of all of its epiphyses along with a humerus without any of its epiphyses fused either. These bones could belong to the same person.

Question 42

As a child ages, the number of epiphyses that join to bone becomes greater.

Question 43

Estimations of age from dental eruption are not dependent on ancestral group.

Question 44

The maxilla and mandible of a subadult are found to have a mixture of deciduous and permanent teeth. The person represented by this jaw was less than 18 years old when he/she died.

Question 45

One of the most important points seen in the chart for stages of ectocranial suture closure is the huge variation and overlap between the stages.