Application and analysis of the Rissech acetabular adult aging method in a Colombian sample

The classical age indicators of the innominate have been the pubic symphysis and auricular surface. However, recently, the acetabulum has been highlighted as an indicator of adult age, with applicability in young, middle-aged, and older adults. The Rissech acetabular method was developed in a Portuguese population and tested in European and European-Americans, giving estimates within 10 years of age in more than 89% of the sample. The main goal of this paper is to test the Rissech acetabular method in a modern South American sample. The material used for the study was 184 women and 378 men from a Colombian-documented skeletal collection. The obtained morphological scores from the acetabulum were analyzed through the IDADE2 web page, a Bayesian statistical program that estimates a relative likelihood distribution for the target individuals, produces age estimates, and provides 95% confidence intervals. Results showed this method is useful in the modern Colombian population with an average absolute error of 10.63 years in females and 9.44 years in males. These errors are similar to those obtained in other European and North American samples when this method was performed and similar or lower than those obtained when the 3 classical aging methods (Suchey-Brooks, Buckberry-Chamberlain, and Lovejoy) were applied in the same collection (absolute error: 10.29 years ♀ and 9.05 years ♂ in Suchey-Brooks, 12.5 years ♀, and 12.17 years ♀ in Buckberry-Chamberlain, and 13.54 years ♀ and 10.99 years ♂ in Lovejoy). Although Rissech’s method was developed in a Western European sample, the results of this study indicate its applicability in modern Colombian samples with reasonable accuracy.