Abstract
Harris lines (HL; also known as “growth arrest lines” or “transverse radiopaque lines”) are horizontal sclerotic lines formed in the metaphyseal or diaphyseal part of long bones, usually visualized using X-ray images. Among the factors that may lead to a temporary arrest of bone growth (and thus—to HL deposition), the most commonly mentioned are nutritional disorders (malnutrition, protein, vitamin, and mineral deficiencies), a history of smallpox, pneumonia or other diseases, food poisoning, or alcohol abuse. The position of the HL is related to the period of incidence of physiological stress inhibiting bone growth, which enables the estimation of the age at which the subject was exposed to it. Such information can be valuable in the study on archeological populations; therefore, various methods have been developed to determine the age of HL deposition. In this review, six known methods for calculating the age of HL origin are presented and compared: Allison/McHenry, Hunt and Hatch, Clarke, Hummert and van Gerven, and Maat and Byers’ methods. In addition, the authors propose here a modification to the last method in order to enable calculations on non-adult bones.
Highlights
Harris lines (HL; known as Bgrowth arrest lines^ or Btransverse radiopaque lines^) are horizontal sclerotic lines formed in the metaphyseal or diaphyseal part of long bones, usually visualized using X-ray images (Nowak and Piontek 2002a), visible in computed tomography (Chauveau et al 2016; Primeau et al 2016), magnetic resonance imaging (Laor and Jaramillo 2009), or in histologicalElectronic supplementary material The online version of this article contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.Division of Histology and Embryology, Department of Human Morphology and Embryology, Wroclaw Medical University, ul
The method requires the following steps: (1) creating growth curves for the study population, (2) creating curves showing the dependence of distance between the HL and the primary ossification center (POC) and the age of HL deposition, (3) determining the POC of the examined bone, and (4) measuring the distance from the HL to the POC and comparing the result with the curve defined in point 2
The authors themselves note that the assumptions are not very precise; the length of the bones after birth can be different than 90 mm (Scheuer and Black 2000), and bone growth varies with age (Hoppa 1992; Ruff 2003)
Summary
Harris lines (HL; known as Bgrowth arrest lines^ or Btransverse radiopaque lines^) are horizontal sclerotic lines formed in the metaphyseal or diaphyseal part of long bones, usually visualized using X-ray images (Nowak and Piontek 2002a), visible in computed tomography (Chauveau et al 2016; Primeau et al 2016), magnetic resonance imaging (Laor and Jaramillo 2009), or in histological. During a lifetime, the bone undergoes constant remodeling processes which results in a possible disappearance of the HL (Papageorgopoulou et al 2011) This hinders the interpretation and use of HLs in archeological studies of the population, especially for the remains of older individuals. The method requires the following steps: (1) creating growth curves for the study population, (2) creating curves showing the dependence of distance between the HL and the primary ossification center (POC) and the age of HL deposition, (3) determining the POC of the examined bone, and (4) measuring the distance from the HL to the POC and comparing the result with the curve defined in point 2. McHenry does not specify in his paper if the bone length is shortened by 90 mm or any other value
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