Abstract

SUZUKI, Shintaro  and  TIESLER, Vera. Estrategias alternas para la valoración histomorfológica de la edad a la muerte en restos esqueléticos deteriorados: Aplicaciones en la bioarqueología del área Maya. Rev Arg Antrop Biol [online]. 2016, vol.18, n.2. ISSN 1514-7991.

Our study focuses on the histological assignation of age-at-death ranges to diagenetically deteriorated skeletal remains. To this end, we review age-related microscopic metamorphoses in thin sections of undecalcified bone in order to generate selective counts of microstructures and a qualitative assessment of histological tissue. In this essay, we evaluate the potential of these standards in three case studies on the deteriorated skeletal remains of three Mayan dignitaries from the first millennium CE. In the first case, the macroscopic approximation is confirmed by histologic scrutiny, while in the second case contradicting results lead to a discussion of the individual’s pathological conditions that could explain the discrepancy in specific lines of evidence. In the third specimen, the combination of macroscopic and microscopic results improved chronovital assignation. We conclude our work with a discussion of the potential that histomorphological evaluation (and its different protocols) holds in age-range assignment in deteriorated skeletal remains from archaeological contexts.

Keywords : evaluación microscópica; métodos de estimación de edad a la muerte; osteología; diagénesis.

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