Light microscopy should be a routine complementary diagnostic tool for osteoarchaeologists, palaeopathologists and forensic anthropologists. However, this well-established and long existing technique is not widely utilized. It is a popular belief that the preparation of the required sections of bone tissue demands a lot of time, expensive instruments, and a knowledge of plastics. To show that this is not entirely the case, a long existing technique for the manual preparation of ground sections was brushed up and tested. Its application is simple, extremely cheap, rapid and reliable and the final product is a beautiful and intact ca. 10 -15 micron or less thin section. A few modifications are proposed which further improve the feasibility of the technique, and which also make it very suitable for less well-preserved, inhumed, and even cremated osteoarchaeological/forensic remains. As in the original method, the modifications need only a few extra, but still very basic and cheap products. A detailed step by step description of the procedure is presented. The advantages are then discussed.

This paper presents an uncomplicated and minimally invasive method for age-at-death determination in a contemporary Dutch (West European) population, by modifying the approach of assessment based on the age-related remodeling of bone tissue. In contrast to the usual "osteon count," a "non-remodeled tissue count" is undertaken. To optimize the method, proper zeroing of the polarization filter set of the microscope is essential. Instructions for setting the filters are given. A sample of femoral shaft segments totaling 162 individuals with ages ranging from 15 to 96 years is analyzed. Subperiosteal quantitative assessments are recorded at the most anterior point of the femoral shaft and also at points 25 degrees to the left and to the right of that point. Interobserver agreement in the assessments shows an acceptable degree of correlation. Bone remodeling with age does not progress in a linear, but in a curvilinear manner. Dependence of predicted age on nonremodeled surface counts in the analyzed areas of the anterior cortex of the femur appears to be significant. A set of regression equations is given. Sex can be ignored in age prediction. The small but statistically significant dependence of predicted age on cadaver length corresponds with the present strong secular increase in stature in the Netherlands. A concise catalogue with micrograph examples for every 10-year period in life is available upon request.

No abstract

In the last decade, the use of light microscopy has been firmly established for the investigation of exhumated human bone tissue. As a rule, these remains cannot be decalcified; thus, they are most commonly prepared for microscopic analysis as ground thin sections. These ground sections are of great value in diagnosing disease, in estimating age or in assessing taphonomic alteration. As bone is sometimes fragile and can be damaged by the grinding process, the specimen is occasionally supported by an embedding medium. In contrast to the vast amount of research conducted on embedded and unembedded unstained bone material, the use of histological stains on undecalcified dry bone tissue has been long neglected. In this article, a new method for embedding, sawing and grinding dry bone tissue is presented. The produced sections are subsequently stained with haematoxylin. The results show that even ground sections of fragile bone can be made in a quick and easy manner. Staining these sections enhances the envisioning of microarchitecture and taphonomical processes. In addition, the sections stay open for inspection under polarized light. The results were consistent throughout the used bone material. To keep the method as accessible and comprehensive as possible, a step-wise manual is provided. An additional troubleshooting paragraph discusses the most often encountered problems and provides solutions.

The histological staining of bone tissue is of great value in identifying structural changes in human bone tissue when examined microscopically, and is therefore routinely used by clinical pathologists. However, for archaeological and other types of undecalcified dry bone tissue, histochemical staining is currently not widely used. The purpose of this paper is to describe a new method developed for the staining of undecalcified archaeological bone which may be a valuable addition to the palaeopathological toolkit. Sections were ground by hand and stained with haematoxylin and eosin. The microstructure and architecture of the stained sections become clearly visible without compromising total tissue envisioning. In addition, staining enhances differentiation between taphonomically affected and non-affected bone tissue. This paper accordingly describes a reproducible stepwise method for the production of ground stained sections. An additional troubleshooting paragraph discusses the most often encountered problems and provides solutions.