[Dynamics of structural and biomechanical changes in the femur according to archeological excavations in Latvia]

Twenty-five femoral bones were investigated in Latvian residents beginning from the neolith up to the present time by means of destructive (uniaxial strain) and nondestructive (ultrasonic effect) methods, as well as mciroscopically. The residents of Latvian SSR in the bronze age had a more highly developed osseous-articular apparatus as compared to the neolith and Middle ages. The ultrasonic method can be applied successfully by archeologists and paleopathologists in order to determine quickly physical state of bones discovered without destroying their structure.