Eburnation
Definition
The polished, ivory-like surface produced on bone when articular cartilage is completely lost in severe osteoarthritis and the opposing subchondral bone surfaces grind against each other. A pathological finding indicating chronic, severe joint disease; a key biological age indicator in adults over 50.
Related terms
- Behrensmeyer Weathering Stages
- A six-stage (0-5) macroscopic scale for characterising the degree of environmental weathering on bone, published by Anna Kay Behrensmeyer in Paleobiology (1978)....
- Buikstra-Ubelaker Standards
- The 'Standards for Data Collection from Human Skeletal Remains' (1994, Arkansas Archaeological Survey Research Series 44), edited by Jane Buikstra and Douglas...
- Callus
- The new bone tissue formed at the site of a fracture during healing. Passes through stages of haematoma, fibrous callus (woven bone),...
- Minimum Number of Individuals (MNI)
- The smallest number of distinct individuals required to account for all skeletal elements present in an assemblage. Determined by identifying the element...
- Pathology
- In skeletal osteology, a disease process or injury that occurred during the individual's lifetime and left a detectable trace on the skeleton...
- Periostitis
- Inflammation of the periosteum resulting in the deposition of new woven or lamellar bone on the outer cortical surface. Produced by infection,...
- Plexiform Bone (Taphonomy Context)
- In the pseudopathology context, the presence of plexiform bone structure in a cortical cross-section is used to exclude human origin rather than...
- Pseudopathology
- Postmortem modification of bone by a specific agent (rodents, carnivores, plant roots, mechanical forces) that superficially resembles a disease process or antemortem...
- Taphonomy
- The systematic modification of bone by environmental processes after death, operating over the burial or exposure interval. Includes weathering, soil staining, sun...
Explained in
- Pseudopathology vs Pathology vs Taphonomy and the Buikstra-Ubelaker InventoryThe polished, ivory-like surface produced on bone when articular cartilage is completely lost in severe osteoarthritis and the opposing subchondral bone surfac...