Post mortem reconstruction of metabolic rates by histomorphometry of archgaeological human compact bones

Histomorphometry of archaeological human bone permits the invivo-reconstruction of bone physiology as well as a quantification of the typical age changes in compact bone. Compact bone samples from 31 well preserved metatarsalia and one metacarpus of excavated adult male skeletons from early-mediaval site of Altenerding (administrative district Erding, Upper Bavaria), were cut into thin sections, whose microstructural components were measured histomorphometrically with a semiautomated image-analyser. The thus obtained raw data were used for the calculation of the remodeling rate during lifetime as well as for histomorphometrical age determination. Results of the histomorphometrical age determination were then compared with existing macromorphological data and those obtained from the incremental lines of the dental cementum. This comparison revealed obvious method-specific differences: macromorphological data tend to be too low, while the histomorphometrically determined ages of death are estimated as being too high. The calculation of remodeling rates in haversian bone required a combination of three different algorithms. Herewith, a continuous decrease in average values of 1.06/mm2/a for the average annual osteon formation rate mu and 0.035 mm2/mm2/a for the average annual haversian bone formation rate appeared in the sample. Further age-dependent variability and species-specific characteristic structural features of the cortex were investigated. Osteons tend to become smaller with increasing individual age as expected, but no increase of the haversian canals was found. Comparative values taken from histological and anatomical literature are constantly agreeing with the measured data of the microstructural components. In the case of a both osteoporotic and osteomyelitic bone, histomorphometry proved to be a valuable method for palaeopathological diagnosis.