By: Karissa Ketter, News Writer
CW: Mentions of violence in the third to last paragraph
SFU archaeology MA student Deanna Smith discovered a new way to identify the age of skeletal remains at the time of death. Smith’s new approach includes measuring bones located in the skull, which could give a more accurate age identification in children’s remains.
In an interview with The Peak, Smith said physical anthropologists are often called out to criminal investigations. “It’s not unheard of, but thankfully uncommon, for child remains to be found.” Discovering the age of the individual narrows down the possible victim if they are unrecognizable upon discovery.
“Age is one of the crucial components of what we call the biological profile: these are components that make up the specific identity of an individual — their sex, age, stature, ancestry [ . . . ] These specific characteristics can tell us a lot about a person and they are extremely important to archaeologists studying past populations as well as physical anthropologists working in the forensic community,” said Smith.
This publication came from Smith’s honours undergraduate research which looked at the relationship between skull and jaw bones growth and the individual’s age. “Growth is a continuous — but not uniform process — there are periods where the body grows faster and subsequently periods where it grows slower. So in addressing this, we wanted to identify the growth trajectory and the different patterns of growth for each of these bones.”
Smith used measurements of a series of bones inside the skull, collected by her supervisor Dr. Hugo Cardoso and fellow researcher Dr. Louise Humphrey. She noted “the goal was to provide specific formulae which could provide a better measure of accuracy and precision than models that are already out there.”
Most commonly used models are ones that take a single measurement of bones to estimate age throughout any given growth period. Using multiple bone measurements with Smith’s formulae could provide, in some cases, a better measure of accuracy by an “age prediction interval of two months — which is very small when you’re looking at a specific year increment.”
Currently, the most precise method for measuring growth is derived from taking dental measurements. However, Smith noted these measurements are not always available. “There are many cases where only specific bones are found — cases of decapitation and things like that. In instances where people are trying to hide identity, those really identifiable markers like teeth and fingers are often removed,” said Smith. Her method helps provides a reliable alternative.
Smith noted this method, along with context from the rest of the biological profile, could help archaeologists learn about past civilizations’ behaviour, health, and stressors during their youth’s growing periods.
Smith was a part of the 2019 and 2020 Juvenile Osteology Group, a group of PhD and MA candidates who study the relationship between juvenile human skeletons and their genetic environments which include “all biocultural processes,” according to their website.
Smith’s research is published in Forensic Science International.
