# Is there a test to determine a human's age? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 20, 2008, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-test-to-determine-a-humans-age/460668 "2008-08-20T14:34:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![cainxinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7bcc69/32.png) [@cainxinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cainxinth)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-test-to-determine-a-humans-age/460668/1 "2008-08-20T14:34:58Z")
Given the the Chinese woman’s gymnastics controversy I was curious as to whether there was any means of accurately determining a person’s chronological age. Radiocarbon dating? Chop off a limb and count the rings? ---
**Author:** ![Whack-a-Mole](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/whack-a-mole/32/141_2.png) [@Whack-a-Mole](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Whack-a-Mole)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 2:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-test-to-determine-a-humans-age/460668/2 "2008-08-20T14:59:46Z")
I had wondered this too. Seems the answer is no, at least not with any specificity. Age can only be approximated which in the case of the gymnasts is likely nowhere good enough. [Forensic Age Determination](http://www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/biology/forensics/age_determ.html) ---
**Author:** ![mks57](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/b9bd4f/32.png) [@mks57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mks57)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-test-to-determine-a-humans-age/460668/3 "2008-08-20T15:13:34Z")
Not that I know of. When I took a course in physical anthropology, the instructor pointed out many age-related skeletal features that could be used to estimate age, but at best they gave you a ballpark estimate, and there is a lot of variation. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-test-to-determine-a-humans-age/460668/4 "2008-08-20T18:39:21Z")
And, of course, the same factors that are making people suspicious about the Chinese gymnasts in the first place will also throw off many of the approximate dating methods. Small people are more likely to be younger, but they’re actively selecting for small gymnasts. Some hormonal factors would be indicative of age, but they can be delayed by intense athletic training, and so on. ---
**Author:** ![Gukumatz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/74df32/32.png) [@Gukumatz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gukumatz)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-test-to-determine-a-humans-age/460668/5 "2008-08-20T18:58:59Z")
[QUOTE=cainxinth] Given the the Chinese woman’s gymnastics controversy I was curious as to whether there was any means of accurately determining a person’s chronological age. Radiocarbon dating? Chop off a limb and count the rings? [/QUOTE] No, no, no. One hacks through the _middle_ and count the rings. ---
**Author:** ![Sigene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df788c/32.png) [@Sigene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sigene)\ **Post date:** [August 20, 2008, 11:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-test-to-determine-a-humans-age/460668/6 "2008-08-20T23:12:25Z")
[QUOTE=Gukumatz] No, no, no. One hacks through the _middle_ and count the rings. [/QUOTE] One way to age human bones is to count the number of osteons in the long bones. Google Osteons, age or some permutation. One of my old profs at Missouri was a leading researcher in it (Dr. Stout). ---
**Author:** ![ignis\_glaciesque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f8ce5/32.png) [@ignis\_glaciesque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ignis_glaciesque)\ **Post date:** [August 21, 2008, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-there-a-test-to-determine-a-humans-age/460668/7 "2008-08-21T12:50:05Z")
Another way to tell rough age is through seeing if the growth plates on certain bones are fused or not. Generally, it’s only practical for those under about 30 or so, since after that age, the growth plates have all fused completely. It’s useful for figuring out roughly how old a child is at time of death, since they have tons of unfused growth plates (especially in their skulls and long bones), but it’s not so useful for older people. I have a copy of Grey’s Anatomy that shows the growth plates and the approximate age at which they usually fuse.