Piepenbrink H
Anthropol Anz. 1987 Mar;45(1):29-41.
Microradiography is a standard technique for determining small differences in mineral content in histological sections of calcified tissues by using soft X-rays. Such differential mineralization points on physiological and pathological processes in bone and teeth, and is frequently conserved both in excavated skeletal remains and in cremations. Continuing from this, microradiography gives diagnostic criteria for histological and palaeopathological investigations on historic and prehistoric skeletal remains rather than ordinary light microscopy. In addition, this technique helps in reconstructing the genesis of special dead bone decomposition phenomena.