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Methods for Casting Ancient Bone and Teeth for Viewing under the SEM

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 March 2018

Christopher W. Schmidt
Christopher W. Schmidt*
Affiliation:
Archeology and Forensics Laboratory University of Indianapolis, Indianapolis, Indiana 46227

Extract

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While using casts in place of original bones and teeth for study with the SEM is a rather common practice, periodic updates and introductions of unique casting methods help to keep the process of improving cast quality cumulative, limiting unnecessary repetition of ineffectual procedures. The following is a summary of casting methods that I have synthesized from several published reports as well as some that I have developed independently (e.g., Waters and Savage 1971; Scott 1982; Rose 1983; Gordon 1984; Teaford 1991; Buikstra and Ubelaker 1994; Schmidt, 1998). The study for which I first employed these methods consisted of hundreds of archeologically- derived human teeth dating from about 1,000 to around 10,000 years ago. The study required detailed views of dental surfaces magnified 500X (Figure 1). The casts that I produced routinely had features that were distinct at magnifications of 2.000X and higher.

Type
Research Article
Information
Microscopy Today , Volume 7 , Issue 5 , June 1999 , pp. 14 - 15
Copyright
Copyright © Microscopy Society of America 1999

References

References Cited

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