Cattaneo, Cobb and Singer

In 1937, Cattaneo studied 100 ‘miscellaneous’ Argentinean skulls, and stated that suture closure could only provide a suggestive age indicator (Krogman 1962:86). Hrdlicka (1939 cited in Krogman 1962:86) stated that endocranial suture closure was only reliable within ten years on either side of the predicted age. Cobb (1952:840 cited in Krogman 1962:86), using the Todd and Lyon methodology, stated suture closure was only reliable within nine years on either side of the predicted age. In 1953, R. Singer concluded that using cranial sutures as an estimation of age at death was an unreliable assessment methodology (Krogman 1962:86). He found that there is a tendency for the cranial sutures, of both females and males, to either remain open throughout life or to close much earlier than predicted by Todd’s method (Singer 1953:56).

Brooks

In 1948, S. Brooks, at the suggestion of Dr. McCown of the University of California, begun an inquiry into why samples of aboriginal California Indians showed a mean age at death consistently under 30 years (Brooks 1955:568). The method employed attempted to employ Todd’s methods of age determination, using both cranial suture closure and changes to the pubic symphysis, to see if they were applicable to races other than white and negro, and to determine the correlation of these two methods when applied to one individual (Brooks 1955:568). However, Brooks (1955:571) attempted to examine the cranial sutures and pubic symphysis in isolation from the rest of the skeleton, as single variables, which, according to Todd and Lyon (1924) is neither a reliable nor valid methodology.

In 1948, just under 400 individual skeletons from the University of California collection were selected for testing (Brooks 1955:569). In 1950, the some of the skeletons employed by Todd from the Hamann Museum collection were used for review (ibid.). Later, in 1953, a second series of 70 skeletons were analyzed to verify the methodology (ibid.). The sample was chosen based on the following criteria: 1) the individual be over 18 years of age, as judged by long bone epiphysis-diaphysis union and fusion of the three elements of the acetabulum; 2) the crania vault must contain at least the area of the coronal, sagittal and lambdoid sutures; and 3) the symphyseal surface of at least one pubic bone must be preserved (Brooks 1955:569). It should be noted that all of the skeletons were from California, but no consideration was made of area or archaeological horizon (ibid.).

Sex determination was based upon: 1) the ischio-pubic index, wherever possible; 2) breadth of the sciatic notch; 3) subpubic angle; and 4) the general morphology of the skull and mandible (Brooks 1955:570). Following the criteria of expected suture closure set out by Todd (1924; 1925a, 1925b, 1925c), Brooks employed a 5 point scale (0 - open to 4 - complete closure) (Brooks 1955:570). She (Brooks 1955:571) stated that there was “no way of checking the accuracy of either cranial or pubic ages, should they be divergent in one individual, except by indirect approach.”

Brooks (1955:573) found that, for females, there was a “sharp deviation” for the predicted age at death between cranial suture and pubic symphysis methods, of at least 10 years. She states that cranial suture closure tends to lag anywhere from 5 to 25, with a mean of +/- 9 years, behind that of the pubic symphysis (Brooks 1955:573). The male sample showed a deviation from 5 to 8 years, with a mean of +/- 2 years, between cranial suture and pubic symphysis methods (Brooks 1955:574). Brooks found that in cases where all of the sutures were open (predicted age <25),>

McKern and Stewart

In 1957, McKern and Stewart revised the cranial suture closure methodology (Krogman 1962:82). Following the work of Singer (1953), they assigned four parts to the coronal and sagittal sutures and three to the lambdoidal sutures, but followed Todd and Lyon in the five scale rating system (0-4, but 2-3 are combined) (Krogman 1962:82). However, their observations were based solely upon ectocranial suture closure (Krogman 1962:83). McKern and Stewart (1957) noted that closure tends to begin the the 1st and 4th parts of the coronal, 1st part of lambdoid, and 1st and 4th parts of the coronal (ibid.). The final stage of closure tends to be in the 1st and 2nd parts of the sagittal, 1st or 2nd part of lambdoid, and the 1st part of the coronal (ibid.). Although they found that there was an age progression in the uniformity of suture closure, they believed that it was too erratic to be of use in determination of age at death (McKern and Stewart 1957:37). McKern and Stewart (1957:37) concluded that:

So erratic is the onset and progress that an adequate series will provide just about any pattern at any age level. Thus, as a guide for age determination, such a trend is of little use.

Genovese and Messmacher

In 1959, Genovese and Messmacher studied 101 Mexican male skulls of all ages and known identity: 47 ‘indigenas’ and 54 ‘mestizos’ (Krogman 1962:87). They found that the age difference between suture estimation and actual age was 12 years, 11 months (indigenas) and 9 years, 5 months (mesitzos) (ibid.).