Estimation of chronological age in man based on the spongy structure of long bones

Estimation of chronological age in man from the spongy structure of long bones is demonstrated. The proposed method can be applied in the living and on skeletons in forensic and historical anthropology. Scoring is always based on radiographic or direct observation of structure, density and age related changes on the spongiosa and the cortex in the proximal parts of humerus and femur. On numerous cadavers of known age, sex and provenience of the Institute of Forensic Medicine of the University of Vienna, Austria, seven morphological stages were differentiated which are characteristic for seven age classes, each of ten years width. These stages are described and demonstrated graphically and in photographs. The capacity of the method is illustrated in two examples.