Abstract: Objective To discuss bone development trend in the knee joint of Tibetan teenagers in Sichuan province and to effectively update the database for estimating the living age of Tibetan teenagers in terms of bone age of the knee joint. Methods Radiographs including epiphysis of distal femur, proximal tibia and proximal fibula were taken from 483 Tibetan male and female teenagers aged from 14 to 19 years old in Aba prefecture of Sichuan province in order to observe epiphyseal growth situation. The descriptive data of the epiphyseal closure ages of these teenagers’ knee joints were statistically analyzed by SPSS 16.0 software. Results The distal femur epiphyseal closure occurred earliest, while the proximal fibula epiphyseal closure occurred latest. The epiphyseal growth of knee joints of females occurred about one year earlier than that of males. Conclusion The forensic information and data related to Tibetan teenagers’ bone age identification should be updated regularly. These results provide potential value for the practice of forensic medicine, anthropology and clinical medicine.

Key words: forensic anthropology, age determination, skeleton, X-ray, teenager, Tibetan