Contribution of the study of acetabulum for the estimation of adult subjects.

Introduction: The study of the posterior part of the pelvis is of interest in forensic anthropology since it is an anatomical region that is very often preserved. The Lovejoy technique, using the auricular surface has brought about many studies and attracted many authors, among them Buckberry and Chamberlain utilized the criteria described by Lovejoy and developed new methods. By using this research as a starting point, we have described acetabular criteria. The goal of this study was to test these criteria and to link them to auricular surface reading criteria, as described by Buckberry and Chamberlain.

Method: The study concerned 52 pelvises of known age and sex. We studied the age correlation of various criteria read at the acetabulum level and that of the auricular surface. We then went on to draw up scores and established a correlation of these scores with age. Intra- and inter-observer variability was also studied. We used the SPSS software package for statistical analyses.

Discussion: We were able to isolate four acetabular criteria and four auricular surface criteria which have a correlation with age. Establishing these scores (sum of criteria) allows a better age-based correlation to be obtained. Establishing an overall score, including acetabular criteria and auricular surface criteria, allows a good level of correlation to be obtained with age, with low intra- and inter-observer variability.

Conclusion: The study of acetabulum is of interest for the age estimation of adult subjects. The joint study of the acetabulum and the auricular surface allows a higher correlation with actual age to be obtained. This study must be broadened to include a wider sample so as to allow fine-tuning of a method.