Determination of age from the cadaver’s skull–evidence from a cross-sectional study from central India

Introduction: Cranial suture closure is one trait that has been used since the 16th century for age estimation after the 2nd decade of life. To determine the pattern of cranial vault suture closure in relation to age among dead bodies of subjects (3rd to 5th decades of life) and identify any relationship between progression of the union of cranial suture and age. Materials and Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional observational study from January 2016 to June 2017 involving 500 cadavers. Cadavers were studied for ectocranial and endocranial closure pattern for sagittal-coronal and lambdoid sutures. Spearman coefficient was utilized to assess the correlation between the age of the subject and the stage of fusion of cranial sutures. Results: We noted that the process of endocranial fusion of cranial suture was more regular than ectocranial. The coronal suture was the first to fuse. Conclusion: No definite correlation was found to exist between age and suture closures.