Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 26, 2026
A Method to Estimate Cadaveric Femur Cortical Strains During Fracture Testing Using Digital Image Correlation
Published on: September 14, 2017
Macroscopic and stereomicroscopic comparison of hacking trauma of bones before and after carbonization
Véronique Alunni1, Luísa Nogueira2, Gérald Quatrehomme3
1Institut Universitaire d'Anthropologie Médico-Légale, Faculté de Médecine, and CEPAM (CNRS 7264), Université Côte d'Azur, 28 Avenue de Valombrose, 06107, Nice Cedex 2, France. alunni.v@chu-nice.fr.
Abstract:
This experimental study examined lesions produced by a hatchet on pig femurs before and after carbonization. A total of 30 lesions were produced and analyzed using stereomicroscopy and then reexamined after carbonization. Not only was the sharp-blunt mechanism of the hacking trauma (V-shape, regularity of one edge, irregularity of the other edge, upraising, lateral pushing back, fossae dug laterally to the edge) still recognizable after carbonization; in some instances, the carbonization actually enhanced the features observed. Carbonization also did not significantly alter the measurements of the lesions. Carbonization tends to alter the structure of the bone especially in areas weakened by the blunt trauma.
Related Concept Videos
01:12Carbon Skeletons
01:17Gross Anatomy of Bone
The diaphysis is the tubular shaft that runs between the proximal and distal ends of the bone. The walls of the diaphysis are composed of dense and hard compact bone made of numerous osteons — the functional unit of the compact bone. The hollow region in the diaphysis is called the medullary cavity, which harbors the bone marrow. In infants and children, this marrow cavity is filled with red marrow, whereas in...