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Population variation in osteological aging criteria: An example from the pubic symphysis
Author(s) -
Hoppa Robert D.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
american journal of physical anthropology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.146
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1096-8644
pISSN - 0002-9483
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1096-8644(200002)111:2<185::aid-ajpa5>3.0.co;2-4
Subject(s) - pubic symphysis , osteology , variation (astronomy) , population , symphysis , geography , demography , biology , anatomy , pelvis , sociology , physics , astrophysics
A fundamental assumption made by skeletal biologists is that both the pattern and rate of age‐related morphological changes observed in modern reference populations are not significantly different than in past populations. In this brief exploration, the composition of a single reference and two independent, known‐age, target samples are evaluated for the pubic symphysis. Differences in the timing of age‐progressive changes between the reference and target samples are observed, and in particular, females demonstrated a pattern that was fundamentally different from the reference sample. These results serve as a cautionary note for the use of osteological aging criteria and issues of representativeness for modern standards. Am J Phys Anthropol 111:185–191, 2000. © 2000 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.