Observations on the formation and persistence of radiopaque transverse lines

Abstract

The formation and persistence of radiopaque transverse lines have been assessed in the living in clinical studies of growth, nutrition, and disease. Lines have also been used by many researchers in the analysis of patterns of childhood stress in prehistoric skeletal materials, although most of this research has been undertaken on adult bones. However, how reliable and useful are transverse lines for interpretations of stress? The precise etiologies for their appearance are varied and controversial, and lines are also known to resorb during both childhood and the adult years. Sex differences in both their formation and persistence have also been reported. To assess better the viability of lines as indicators of stress, the present research analyzes rates of formation, distribution frequencies, and the persistence of transverse lines in individuals aged birth to 50+ years from a single archaeological population. The results suggest that while transverse lines may be analytically useful as subsidiary criteria for more fully understanding the biological well-being of prehistoric populations, caution should be exercised in the interpretations made concerning childhood stress, particularly when using adult bones.

Harris lines of the tibia across centuries: a comparison of two populations, medieval and contemporary in Central Europe

“…The distal end of the tibia was considered to be the most suitable for the assessment of Harris lines [4,5,6,7]. Only those lines which extended to at least one-quarter across the width of the shaft were considered representative [10,23].…”

“…They are formed in the metaphysis of growing long bones parallel to the epiphyseal plate and appear later in the diaphysis as the length of bone increases with growth. Harris lines are seen in a variety of bones, but most researchers agree that the greatest number of Harris lines can be found in the distal end of the tibia; therefore, this bone was considered to be the most suitable for assessing the incidence of Harris lines [4,5,6,7]. These lines are called Harris growth arrest lines because they were first described by Henry A. Harris in 1931 [1].…”

“…Some researchers triggered their occurrence experimentally by inducing infection or malnutrition in rats and pigs [1,2,8]. Harris Lines were described in association with malnutrition in prehistoric populations [1,2,3,6,8,9,10,11]; therefore, they were used as an indicator of health status and malnutrition in paleopathological studies.…”

Scanning Electron Microscopic Observation of Transverse (Harris) Lines in the Femur and Tibia of Anatomy Cadavers.

“…In anthropology, the occurrence of transverse lines has been extensively studied in excavated skeletons as an indicator of the living environment of ancient men (Allison and others, 1974;Clark and Mack 1988;Hirata 1993;Hojo 1976;Hughes and others, 1996;Hummert and Van Gervan 1985;Jones and Dean 1959;Maat 1984;McHenry 1968).…”

Niveles De Cortisol en Cabellos De Poblaciones Prehispánicas De San Pedro De Atacama, Norte De Chile

“…Relacionado a esto se encuentra la forma limitada de respuesta del tejido óseo a múltiples factores de estrés que pueden estar interactuando, de manera que la reabsorción y la aposición ósea pueden estar ocurriendo de manera sincrónica o secuencial a lo largo de la vida de los individuos, enmascarando así eventos momentáneos de estrés. Un ejemplo de esto son las líneas de Harris (Hummert y Van Gerven 1985;Papageorgopoulou et al 2011), que pueden recuperarse y desaparecer a lo largo de la vida de los individuos. Finalmente, un aspecto importante que no es posible identificar en forma directa a nivel esqueletal es la influencia de factores psicosociales en el estado de salud de los individuos y por tanto en la resistencia individual (Armelagos y Goodman 1991;Goodman et al 1988).…”