Automated age‐at‐death estimation by cementochronology: Essential application or additional complication?

Bertrand, Benoit; Vercauteren, Martine; Cunha, E; Bécart, Anne; Gosset, Didier; Hédouin, Valery

http://hdl.handle.net/10400.26/41904

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Abstract(s)

It has been repeatedly acknowledged that age-at-death estimation based on dentalcementum represents a partial and time-consuming method that hinders adoptionof this histological approach. User-friendly micrograph analysis represents a grow-ing request of cementochronology. This article evaluates the feasibility of using amodule to accurately quantify cementum deposits and compares the module's per-formance to that of a human expert. On a dental collection (n=200) of known-ageindividuals, precision and accuracy of estimates performed by a developed pro-gram (101 count/tooth;n=20,200 counts) were compared to counts performedmanually (5 counts/tooth;n=975 counts). Reliability of the software and agree-ment between the two approaches were assessed byintraclass correlation coeffi-cient and Bland Altman analysis. The automated module produced reliable andreproducible counts with a higher global precision than the human expert. Althoughthe software is slightly more precise, it shows higher sensitivity to taphonomic dam-ages and does not avoid the trajectory effect described for age-at-death estimationin adults. Likewise, for human counts, global accuracy is acceptable, but underestima-tions increase with age. The quantification of the agreement between the twoapproaches shows a minor bias, and 94% of individuals fall within the intervals ofagreement. Automation gives an impression of objectivity even though the region ofinterest, profile position and parameters are defined manually. The automated systemmay represent a time-saving module that can allow an increase in sample size, whichis particularly stimulating for population-based studies.

Keywords

Age-at-death Automation Cementochronology Dental cementum

URI

http://hdl.handle.net/10400.26/41904

Citation

Bertrand, B., Vercauteren, M., Cunha, E., Bécart, A., Gosset, D., & Hédouin, V. (2022). Automated age‐at‐death estimation by cementochronology: Essential application or additional complication? American Journal of Biological Anthropology, 179(2), 314–326