Transition Analysis as a Method of Age Estimation, a Reevaluation from an Anthropological Perspective

The analysis of demographic behavior with respect to age has been evaluated with various methodologies. With the purpose of comparing differences between traditional or classic aging methods and the transition analysis method proposed by Boldsen and colleagues (2002), we reevaluated age estimates in the San Gregorio Atlapulco skeletal assemblage, an osteological collection that dates to the end of the prehispanic period and that we consider suitable for paleodemographic studies due to the composition of the sample and its large size. The applied methodology resulted in substantial differences. It overestimated the skeletal age of the oldest adults, in comparison with previous estimations derived from traditional aging methods from physical anthropology, pushing the maximum age in the group to 100 years or more. These results will be discussed with respect to the principles of anthropological demography and previous studies of health in this population.