Estimation of age at death: examination of variation in cortical bone histology within the human clavicle

Abstract

The exact method for preparing osseous tissue for a microscopic analysis to determine the age of the remains is the preparation of histological sections, as the structure of the osseous tissue does not change while processing the material and the time of preparations is relatively short (7-8 days). The best predictors of age with the use of the function of univariate linear regression were: the diameter of Haversian canal, the number of osteons with Haversian canal of more than 70 μm in diameter, the relation of osteons with Haversian canal bigger than 70 μm in diameter to the total number of osteons as well as fragments of secondary osteons.