GOUGH'S CAVE 1 : ASSESSMENT OF SEX AND AGE AT DEATH 



47 



Summary Sex Assessment 



The overall impression of the sexually dimorphic characteristics of 

 Gough's Cave 1 is that the remains are those of a male. This is 

 supported by posterior and posterolateral cranial features, long bone 

 lengths, many discrete pelvic traits and particularly discriminant 

 functional analysis of the pel vis. However, the specimen also presents 

 a series of features that are generally considered to be female 

 characteristics, including several features of the facial skeleton, the 

 ischiopubic rami and the pelvic apertures. This is combined with its 

 overall size being well within Mesolithic female ranges of variation, 

 and its ambiguous greater sciatic notch morphology. 



We feel that the various features employed for sexual diagnosis of 

 Gough's Cave are predominantly those which indicate or strongly 

 suggest that it is male, but this must be accompanied with the caveat 

 that either this individual falls at the feminine end of the male range 

 of variation or that the patterns of skeletal sexual dimorphism of the 

 population from which it derived were modestly different from those 

 of the mostly European and European-derived reference samples 

 used for this assessment. 



AGE ASSESSMENT 



In their presentation of the Gough's Cave 1 remains, Seligman & 

 Parsons (1914) make several references to its age at death, including 

 'the sutures are open both extra- and intra-cranially, a condition 

 which would make us fairly sure that that the individual was under 30 

 years of age" (p. 255), 'the teeth in the lower jaw are very perfect and, 

 although their possessor was probably between 24 and 28 years of 

 age, show very little sign of grinding down' (p. 258), and 'a part of the 

 left os innominatum has been preserved and shows that the epiphy- 

 seal line for the crest of the ilium is not completely closed' (p. 261). 

 'As all other available epiphyseal lines have disappeared in this 

 skeleton we should say that death took place between the ages of 24 

 and 28, and this is quite in harmony with the evidence of the skull' (p. 

 261). Given the presence of a variety of other age indicators on the 

 remains (of varying precision), a reassessment of these statements is 

 in order. 



The Skull 



Parts of the basicranial region are missing so it is not possible to 

 examine the area of the basi-occipital synchondrosis. However, most 

 of the cranial vault sutures remain, permitting their assessment 

 endocranially and ectocranially. 



The reliability of cranial suture closure for age estimation is 

 debated. Nevertheless, several different systems have been devel- 

 oped for estimating age at death from suture closure on the 

 endocranial and ectocranial surfaces of the skull (e.g. Meindl & 

 Lovejoy 1985, Perizonius 1984, Buikstra & Ubelaker 1994). Key 

 et al. (1994) conducted a detailed investigation of cranial suture 

 closure in 183 individuals of known age at death from the Christ 

 Church, Spitalfields sample. Their study recorded the degree of 

 closure at 54 different sites on the cranial vault. Key et al. (1994) 

 demonstrated a high level of variability in suture closure with age 

 in the Spitalfields sample. In particular, their study warned that 

 open ectocranial sutures were found to occur with equal frequency 

 at all ages, and should not be used as an indication of young age. 



The degree of suture closure in Gough's Cave 1 was evaluated 

 using the methods described by Key et al. (1994). Observations 

 could be made at 24/36 ectocranial sites and at 14/18 endocranial 



Table 2 Degrees of occlusal attrition in Gough's Cave 1, scored 

 following the system of Molnar (1971). 



Right 



Left 



Maxilla 



Mandible 



M 1 

 M 2 

 M 3 



I, 

 h 



c, 



P 3 

 P 4 



M, 



M 2 



M, 



sites. All except two of the recording positions could be scored on 

 either the left or right side of the skull. Suture closure was scored as 

 at each of the sites examined. The conclusions of Key etal.{\ 994) 

 suggest that this result does not provide any definitive evidence of 

 age at death, and perhaps all that can be concluded in relation to the 

 evidence from cranial suture closure in Gough's Cave 1 is that it does 

 not conflict with other morphological indicators of a young age at 

 death. 



The Dentition 



All of the teeth present in the upper and lower jaws are fully emerged 

 into the tooth row, suggesting a minimum age at death of about 17 

 years (Smith 1 99 1 , table 1 ). Radiographs reveal that the roots of the 

 mandibular third molars are complete and appear to be completely 

 closed at the apex. The mean age of attainment of apical closure of 

 the third molar in a recent North American sample is 20 years for 

 males and 20.7 years for females (data from Moorrees et al. 1963, 

 presented by Smith 1991). The minimum age of attainment of this 

 stage is just over 16 years (mean - 2sd, for age of closure of distal 

 root apex (Moorrees et al, 1963). 



It is also possible to assess the degree of wear as a general 

 indication of age-at-death. The occlusal attrition scores, following 

 Molnar (1971), are in Table 2. In this, 1 indicates an essentially 

 unworn tooth, and 3 (the highest score for Gough's Cave 1) indi- 

 cates that the cusp pattern is partially or completely obliterated 

 and there are small dentine patches exposed. As can be seen, all of 

 the anterior teeth and three of the first molars exhibit wear stage 3, 

 the third molars exhibit wear stage 1 , and the remaining teeth are 

 in between. 



Of particular relevance is the amount of wear on the third molars, 

 which is minimal. Both mandibular third molars have slightly pol- 

 ished enamel, and there is a small wear facet on the mesio-buccal 

 cusp of the right one. The difference in the amount of wear between 

 the left and right teeth is consistent with the amount of wear on the 

 other molars, which is higher on the right side than on the left. There 

 is slight polishing on the upper third molars and a small wear facet on 

 the mesio-lingual cusp of the upper right third molar. The amount of 

 wear suggests that death occurred not long after the third molars 

 came into occlusion. The evidence from the third molars is consist- 

 ent with the relatively low level of wear on the first and second 

 molars. Application of the Miles method (Miles 1978) for ageing 

 using attrition on the mandibular molars indicates an age at death of 

 between 1 8 and 24 years, with an age at the lower end of the scale 

 being more likely. 



