Effects of age and occupation on cortical bone in a group of 18th-19th century British men

The effects of age and occupation on cortical bone in a group of adult male s from the 18th-19th century AD skeletal collection from Christ Church Spit alfields, London, were investigated. Cortical bone was monitored using meta carpal radiogrammetry. Individual age at death was known exactly from coffi n plates. Occupation for individuals was known from historical sources. Res ults showed that continued periosteal apposition was evident throughout adu lt life, but from middle age onwards this was outstripped by about 2:1 by e ndosteal resorption, so that there was net thinning of cortical bone. The r ate of cortical thinning resembled that seen in modern European males. Cros s-sectional properties, as measured by second moments of area, bore no rela tionship to occupation. The results may suggest that, firstly, patterns of loss of cortical bone have remained unchanged in males for at least two cen turies in Britain, and secondly, that biomechanical analyses of metacarpal cortical bone may be rather insensitive indicators of intensity of manual a ctivity. (C) 2001 Wiley-Liss, Inc.