Estimation of Age-at-Death Using Cortical Bone Histomorphometry of the Rib and Femur: A Validation Study on a British Population

SIMPLE SUMMARY: The examination of bone microarchitecture has been considered a valuable tool for age estimation through different skeletal elements. The universal application of existing histological age-estimation techniques is, however, hindered by interpopulation variability, and therefore, validation studies are necessary to evaluate whether a specific method is adequate for accurate age estimation, or a new revised technique should be developed. This study performed a histomorphometric analysis of ribs and femora from a 19th century British population and tested the accuracy of six widely used histological age-estimation equations. The results showed that certain histomorphometric features were significantly affected by interpopulation differences. Two methods were indicated as being the most reliable for the sample under study. The research concluded that the accuracy of age-estimation methods is dependent on the demographic resemblance between the study and the reference sample. ABSTRACT: Histomorphometry constitutes a valuable tool for age estimation. Histological interpopulation variability has been shown to affect the accuracy of age estimation techniques and therefore validation studies are required to test the accuracy of the pre-existing methodologies. The present research constitutes a validation study of widely known histological methods on the sixth rib and the femoral midshaft of a 19th century British population originating from Blackburn, England. An evaluation of the histomorphometric features of eleven ribs and five femora was performed and used to test the accuracy of selected methods. Results indicated that osteon area and circularity were the only histomorphometric variables that presented significant interpopulation variability. Cho et al.’s method for the ribs and the average value produced using Kerley and Ubelaker’s method for intact osteon and percentage of lamellar bone equations for femur were considered the only reliable markers for estimating the age on the Blackburn sample. In the case of old individuals, Goliath et al.’s method provided more satisfactory results. Overall, the present study provides evidence on the applicability of the aging histomorphometric methods on a British sample and highlights the limitations of applying histomorphometric methods developed on different reference populations than the one under investigation.