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This work is a reply to the comment by Edinborough et al. (2021) on our recently published paper (Penezic et al., 2020). In our original paper we presented the results based on the tooth cementum annulation analysis that show that the Neolithic females had higher levels of physiological stress than the Mesolithic females in the Central Balkans. We proposed the hypothesis that this was caused by differences in fertility. In their comment on our paper, Edinborough et al. (2021) question: 1) the accuracy and precision of the TCA analysis as the age estimation method 2) that pregnancies leave traces in the tooth cementum 3) our interpretation of the results. In this reply we argue: 1) that the TCA is a reliable method for age estimation 2) that the reflection of pregnancies in the tooth cementum was established by independent and previously published research and 3) we clarify that our interpretation - that the increased fertility in the Neolithic period may be the cause of the observed patterns - is a hypothesis that needs to be further tested rather than the final conclusion of our original paper.

Context: Tooth plays a pivotal role in the identification of a person when all other remains are ruined by natural or unnatural causes. Dental evidence can contribute to age estimation in forensic dentistry. Estimating the age of an individual with the help of a tooth for identification proves beneficial. Alternating light and dark bands seen on the cementum have been shown to be proportionate to the age of the patient in number. This was done to evaluate the cementum annulation in age determination. Aims: This study aimed to determine the age of an individual using tooth cementum annulation. Materials and Methods: In this study, twenty extracted teeth were collected and all the clinical details of the patient such as age, sex, and chief complaint were recorded. The collected teeth was preserved in formalin overnight and then washed under tap water before they were sectioned. The area selected for counting was observed under 10 × objective of light microscope, and photomicrographs were taken for the counting of the lines. At the time of analysis, the age of the patient was not disclosed to the observer. Statistical Analysis Used: Student's t-test was used for statistical analysis. Results: This study showed the correlation between the actual age of the individual and the estimated age using tooth cementum annulation method and showed significant statistical value. Conclusion: Incremental lines found in cementum can be used for age estimation in forensic dentistry.

Tooth cementum annulation, the microscopic method for the determination of an individual’s age, gives results that are highly correlated with the chronological age of an individual. Nevertheless, this method is still rarely used for age estimation in archaeological populations. In this study, using the tooth cementum annulation method, teeth of 21 individuals of the Djerdap anthropological series, dated to a period from the 10th to the 6th millennium BC, were analysed. The obtained data are important for overcoming some methodological issues in anthropology of the Danube Gorges, as well as with the precise age estimation of old individuals and with the assessment of age in cases where the skeletal material has been very poorly preserved. The only obstacle to the full application of the tooth cementum annulation method is the taphonomy changes of tooth cementum which were detected on several teeth in this study. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. 47 001: Bioarchaeology of ancient Europe - people, animals and plants in Serbian prehistory]

International audience; The use of cementum annulations for estimating adult age-at-death has been recently successfully revived through careful methodological advances with several tests on reference collections indicating very high correlation (r> 0.9) between civil and observed age. Cementochronology is however still not widely implemented, often because of misunderstanding of underlying biological processes or lack of training. The question thus remains for bioarchaeologists or forensic anthropologists today, to cur or not to cut? To answer this question, we are presenting a systematic review of the cementochronology literature from all disciplines to highlight both the reliable facts and the remaining possible biases. We will then synthesized recent results that stemmed from our new "Cementochronology Research Program" which addresses some of the major issues recently expressed in the literature such as the nature of the observed increments, the variability of intra individual cementum apposition or the influence of taphonomy and pathological conditions on acellular cementum. Finally, we present several new practical tools to help improve the implementation of cementochronology such as full protocols, automated counting software (beta version), recording spreadsheet, and self-training databases of histological sections from our reference collections. Even though cementochronology is somewhat expensive to set up, time consuming and destructive, it is also the only method without a scoring protocol based on reference populations and without any statistical processing, which effectively remove most known methodological biases. Since cementochronology is the most precise adult age estimator published so far, the authors strongly recommend its implementation with careful supervision and training.

International audience; The study of intra-individual variability of acellular cementum apposition is a major issue in the estimation of age-at-death using cementochronology. Since the literature is scarce on the subject we extracted 51 modern teeth from 15 of known-age patients. We manually counted the acellular cementum increments on five cross sections from the middle third root of each tooth. Age estimation was then calculated by summing the number of lines to the average age of dental eruption. Our results showed some variability between counts within tooth, especially on premolars. The intra-individual variability of cementum deposition has been highlighted by comparing age estimates obtained for each tooth of one individual which is not surprising considering problems already described in the literature on this issue. Once premolars were excluded, the variation between teeth of an individual dropped to 0 to 5 years in 73% of cases. In conclusion, the intra-individual and intra-dental variability of cementum have to continue to be studied and quantified to obtain the most accurate and reliable estimation of age-at-death and potentially predict which region of interest should be considered prior to sectioning and counting.