Sterbealter und Liegezeit: Zwei unterschiedliche Herausforderungen der Forensischen Osteologie

Zusammenfassung

Ziel

Das Alter zum Todeszeitpunkt und das postmortale Intervall (PMI) sind zwei zentrale Bestandteile des anthropologischen Profils mit besonderem Anspruch an die jeweilige Schätzung, insbesondere in der forensischen Fallarbeit. In Lehrbüchern und wissenschaftlichen Veröffentlichungen werden diese beiden Themen typischerweise separat bearbeitet. Dennoch können sie als logisch zusammenhängend betrachtet werden, wodurch Gemeinsamkeiten beider Themen auffallen. Das primäre Ziel der vorliegenden Arbeit war es, die methodische Vielfalt anwendbarer Methoden an einer ausgewählten Stichprobe darzulegen und die Methoden aufzuzeigen, die eine möglichst präzise und objektive Beurteilung des Alters zum Todeszeitpunkt und des PMI erlauben.

Methoden

Narrativer und erfahrungsbasierter selektiver Review. Zudem wurden Möglichkeiten und Limitationen verschiedener Methoden (Lamendin, Demirjian, Nemeskéri und Acsádi) an einer eigenen Stichprobe untersucht.

Ergebnisse

In der großen Anzahl an Publikationen zu den behandelten Themen zeigen sich signifikante wissenschaftliche Bemühungen, das verfügbare Methodenspektrum zu erweitern. Die in dieser Arbeit diskutierten Methoden reflektierten die Ausbildungsinhalte der Forensic Anthropology Society of Europe (FASE) und eigene Erfahrungen. Basierend auf statistischen Beispielen wurden die Stärken und Schwächen der zuvor genannten Methoden diskutiert.

Schlussfolgerung

Das biologische Alter (Alter zum Zeitpunkt des Todes) sowie physikochemische und mikrobielle Abbauprozesse (PMI) können mit zurzeit verfügbaren Methoden abgeschätzt werden. Durch Einflussfaktoren bedingt sind die Methoden jedoch in ihrer Präzision und Schätzsicherheit limitiert. Dies muss bei gutachterlichen Stellungnahmen klar kommuniziert werden.

Abstract

Aim

Age at death and the postmortem interval (PMI) are two central questions within the process of anthropological profiling with special demands on their accuracy, particularly in forensic casework. In textbooks and scientific publications, these two topics are typically addressed separately. However, they can primarily be viewed as causally and logically related, revealing connections and similarities between both issues. The primary objective of this article was to demonstrate the methodological diversity of applicable techniques through a selected sample and to identify those that enable a precise and objective assessment of both age at death and PMI.

Methods

A narrative and experience-based (selective) review. Additionally, possibilities and limitations of certain methods (Lamendin, Demirjian, and Nemeskéri and Acsádi) were tested on personal samples.

Results

There remains significant scientific effort in advancing methods and expanding the range of techniques, which explains the large number of publications on this topic. The methods presented in this publication were selected to mirror the educational content of the Forensic Anthropology Society of Europe (FASE) and personal experiences. The possibilities and limitations of the abovementioned methods were discussed based on small statistical examples.

Conclusion

It is evident that both biological aging processes (a measure of age at death) and physicochemical and microbial decomposition processes (a measure of the PMI) are estimable with currently available methods. However, due to the complexity of influencing factors, limitations in precision or estimation certainty persist, which must be communicated, particularly in expert assessments.

Schlüsselwörter

Forensische Osteologie - Altersschätzung - Postmortales Intervall

Keywords

Forensic Osteology - Age at death estimation - Postmortem Interval

Publikationsverlauf

Eingereicht: 23. Oktober 2024

Angenommen: 02. Januar 2025

Artikel online veröffentlicht:
11. Februar 2025

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