The methods of osteology

To assess age, osteologists mainly study the skull bones, teeth, the long arm and leg bones and the hip bone. At birth, the parts of the skull are not fused. The ‘seams’ between these skull parts do not disappear until adulthood. There are, however, differences between the sexes and individual variations.

The teeth develop at relatively fixed ages. At birth, no teeth have broken through the dentine. At the age of about six or seven, the first permanent teeth have usually grown out. All of them are in place by the age of 15.

Skeletal growth can also provide information. The ends of the joints and the central parts of the bones become fused at different ages for different bones.

Osteologists usually only determine the sex of adult individuals. Sex-specific parts of the skeleton only develop after puberty. These are primarily the pelvis and the skull. The female pelvis is adapted for child-bearing. On average, the male skull is larger, denser and heavier than the female skull. Female eye sockets are rounder than the more rectangular eye sockets of males.

The body’s long skeletal bones, such as those of the arms and legs, provide information on an individual’s height. Height can be calculated primarily from the greatest length of the thigh-bone. This result is based on measurements from skeletons where the individual’s height was known.