Macroscopic and microscopic evaluation of archaeological pathological bone: Backscattered electron imaging of putative pagetic bone

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Abstract
Reports on microscopic palaeopathological material are rare and have not addressed the potentially complicating effects of diagenesis on bone. This study examined the microstructural integrity of two putative cases of Paget's disease using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) in backscattered electron (BSE) imaging mode. The results obtained show that the SEM‐BSE technique is a highly sensitive and informative microscopic method, which can be used to locate areas of morphologically intact bone within extensively altered diagenetic bone. Evidence for high bone turnover was present in both specimens and it was apparent that there was little relationship between macroscopic and microscopic preservation. The investigation also validated the use of gross X‐rays as a diagnostic tool, since diagenetic reorganization of the bone coarsely replicated the general collagenous arrangement of the pathology sufficient for the resolving power of gross radiography.