Abstract for a paper for the NYCC Research Symposium in January, with @Jeremy Wood. VARIATION IN GEOMETRICAL FORM OF THE MIDSHAFT FEMUR IN ANCIENT AND MODERN GROUPS. R.A. Walker and J. Wood. Just as histological details can reveal details about skeletal remodeling, so too can the overall form of a bone as reflected in its cross sectional shape. As part of an ongoing project to examine the bone histology of the prehistoric Libben population from northeast Ohio, cross sectional geometric properties of sections of a distal femur were calculated before embedding the specimens for histological sectioning. The Libben site in northeast Ohio, which was occupied between the 8th and 11 centuries, CE. Previous analysis of the tibias from the Libben population has demonstrated substantial differences in form from those of modern Americans (Lovejoy, 1970). As a pilot project to identify possible differences in cross sectional properties of the femur between Libben femurs and modern populations, a femur from a modern human population was sectioned at similar locations. Both femurs were sectioned at 1 cm. intervals from the midshaft of the bone distally. These sections are at anatomically similar locations since the two femurs were approximately the same length. Over the 10 cm. length of the diaphyses examined, the modern femur shows an increase in most properties (Imin, Imax, polar moment of inertia, cross sectional area) from proximal to distal, while the Libben femur is much more uniform. The Libben femur is much more circular in cross section as well, with a higher polar moment of inertia than the modern femur. The Libben femur thus shows higher resistance to torsional deformation than the modern femur, and likely indicates different lower limb use patterns. Future research will examine histological variation at these same sites.
Posted on: Fri, 04 Oct 2013 06:00:49 +0000
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