Sternal Rib Ends as a Method of Age Estimation at the CIL: A Brief Note

This communication reports the relationship between skeletal age estimates based on the sternal rib ends (using the phase method of İşcan and colleagues, later revised by Hartnett) and the chronological age at the death of 221 U.S. military casualties processed by the Scientific Analysis section of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency and its predecessor laboratories from 2000 to the present. Previously published age ranges for each phase do not provide accurate estimates for a sufficient proportion of the cases for forensic use; as an example, the age ranges that accompany reference cast sets proved accurate for 55% of CIL cases. Combining the published age ranges of İşcan and Hartnett, on the other hand, proved accurate in 99% of the cases.