Research on the estimation of the age of immature children is one of the strong identity markers of our team, and has given it international recognition for nearly 20 years. In a forensic context, the challenge is to make the decision of the Justice system more reliable in order to qualify a crime or a homicide (reaching the age of fetal viability, foeticide or neonaticide, justified choice of one method rather than another). In an archaeo-thanatological context, the challenge is to understand and interpret modes of burial or choices of burial sites according to age categories, and to be able to discuss the socio-cultural aspects of age-dependent funeral rites.
Recent work on the subject (thesis of M. NIEL, defended in our team in 2019), will be continued in the framework of a collaboration. We will be able to identify growth trajectory alterations, in order to better estimate age and provide additional identification information (presence of a probable pathology). In an archaeo-thanatological context, we will be able to identify new sanitary and pathological conditions for past populations, and to question possible secular growth trends if a significant proportion of immatures found on an archaeological site diverge significantly from the validated standards for current populations.
A synthesis publication and the creation of an online open access tool are planned in 2023. An ANR project submission is envisaged in 2024.