Relative dental maturity and associated skeletal maturity in prehistoric native Americans of the Ohio valley area.

Estimation of age-at-death of subadults in prehistoric skeletal samples based on modern reference standards rests on a number of assumptions of which many are untestable. If these assumptions are not met error of unknown magnitude and direction will be introduced to the subadult age estimates. This situation suggests that an independent estimate or estimates of age-related features, free of most of the assumptions made when using modern reference standards may be useful supplements in evaluating the age of subadults in prehistoric samples. The present study provides an internally consistent, population-specific measure of maturity for prehistoric Ohio valley Native Americans based on the seriation of dental development that may be used as a supplement to age-estimation. The developing dentition of 581 subadults from eight Ohio valley prehistoric-protohistoric groups was seriated within and among individuals resulting in a sequence of tooth development and a sequence of individuals from least to most mature. Dental maturity stages or sorting categories were then defined based on exclusive, easily observable, and highly repeatable tooth-formation stages. Tooth eruption (into occlusion), bone lengths, and fusion of skeletal elements are summarized by dental maturity stage. This procedure provides maturity estimates for skeletal features ordered by dental maturity stages derived from the same sample thus making explicit the relationship between dental and skeletal maturity.