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Microscopic Examination of Human Femurs Buried at Washington Island, Wisconsin

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

G. Richard Peske  and
N. C. Tappen
G. Richard Peske
Affiliation:
Department of AnthropologyUniversity of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
N. C. Tappen
Affiliation:
Department of AnthropologyUniversity of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
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Abstract

Shafts of human femurs from burials on Washington Island, Wisconsin dated ca. A.D. 200 were in good enough condition to allow decalcification, microscopic sectioning and routine staining. Many histological features of the bone are retained. Such procedures are less laborious than grinding undecalcified sections, allow three-dimensional observation of serial sections, and offer possible uses in age determinations of skeletons and paleopathology. The specimens give initial evidence that prompt burial prevents the formation of weathering cracks in bone.

Type
Reports
Information
American Antiquity , Volume 35 , Issue 4 , October 1970 , pp. 463 - 465
Copyright
Copyright © Society for American Archaeology 1970

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References

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