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Abstract: The aim of the study was to evaluate the reliability of methods used for forensic dental age estimation. We analysed all cases over the last 21 years (1984–2004) of unidentified bodies that were examined for identification purposes (including age assessment), and of which secure identification was subsequently achieved. In total, the study included 51 cases and 7 different methods had been used for dental age estimation, with the Bang/Ramm and the Gustafson/Johanson methods being the most frequently applied. The age estimates had usually been recorded as 10-year intervals. Factual ages at death were in the range of 6–76 years, with the largest concentration of cases being in the age interval of 25–55 years (34 cases). There was good agreement between estimated age interval and factual age at death in 37/51 (72%) of the cases. In eight cases the factual age at death deviated up to ±5 years from the estimated age, and in six cases by more than 6 years. The average difference between factual age at death and estimated age was 4.5 years. The four subadults in the material were all correctly estimated within an age range of ±3 years. Our study showed that forensic odontological age estimates are reliable. However, the implementation of the specific methods may need to be adjusted concerning age ranges. In the future we recommend to register anamnestic information and the different steps in the methods used. Clinical evaluation should contain more details about attrition, colour, number and presumed age of the restorations and periodontal status. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The last of the Danish Viking Kings, Sven Estridsen, died in a.d. 1074 and is entombed in Roskilde Cathedral with other Danish kings and queens. Sven''s mother, Estrid, is entombed in a pillar across the chancel. However, while there is no reasonable doubt about the identity of Sven, there have been doubts among historians whether the woman entombed was indeed Estrid. To shed light on this problem, we have extracted and analysed mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from pulp of teeth from each of the two royals. Four overlapping DNA-fragments covering about 400bp of hypervariable region 1 (HVR-1) of the D-loop were PCR amplified, cloned and a number of clones with each segment were sequenced. Also a segment containing the H/non-H specific nucleotide 7028 was sequenced. Consensus sequences were determined and D-loop results were replicated in an independent laboratory. This allowed the assignment of King Sven Estridsen to haplogroup H; Estrid''s sequence differed from that of Sven at two positions in HVR-1, 16093T→C and 16304T→C, indicating that she belongs to subgroup H5a. Given the maternal inheritance of mtDNA, offspring will have the same mtDNA sequence as their mother with the exception of rare cases where the sequence has been altered by a germ line mutation. Therefore, the observation of two sequence differences makes it highly unlikely that the entombed woman was the mother of Sven. In addition, physical examination of the skeleton and the teeth strongly indicated that this woman was much younger (approximately 35 years) at the time of death than the 70 years history records tell. Although the entombed woman cannot be the Estrid, she may well be one of Sven''s two daughters-in-law who were also called Estrid and who both became queens. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]