This is a study book for people learning osteology or anatomy. It features all the bones of the post-cranial skeleton, improving on some previous books with more detailed images of the bones of the feet. Each bone has their common features labelle...
The upper arm bone. The humerus articulates at the top with the scapula with a ball-in-socket synovial joint and at the bottom with the ulna using a hinge joint. It also articulates with the head of the radius. The head of the humerus is one of the hardest non-dental bone parts in the body and is made of very dense bone and may not be destroyed even by cremation or extreme trauma such as by a woodchipper. Like most long bones, it can be used to determine stature (height), but it is not as accurate as the leg bones and should not be used unless there are no leg bones present. The humerus may have a small, smooth edged hole in the olecranon fossa through to the coronoid and radial fossas. This is often the septal aperture and is part of normal human variation, not trauma.
Key Vocabulary: Diaphysis - shaft Trochlea - pulley-like in shape Epicondyles - the ends of a long bone
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Key Measurements:
Maximum Length - from the top of the head to the bottom of the trochlea, measured with an osteometric board
Maximum Diameter Midshaft - using the osteometric board, locate the midpoint and measure the maximum diameter from the lateral to the mesial side of the shaft, measured with a sliding caliper
Minimum Diameter Midshaft - using the osteometric board, locate the midpoint and measure the maximum diameter from the back (posterior) to the front anterior of the shaft, measured with a sliding caliper
Maximum Diameter of the Head - taken at an angle from the top of the head and the bottom of the head using sliding calipers. This is sometimes used in sex determination
Least Circumference of the Shaft - usually in about the second third of the bone below the deltoid tuberosity. This is measured using measuring tape wrapped around the shaft, though some use string
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Key Equation:
Robusticity Index - this measures how robust a person was and is determined by multiplying the Least Circumference of the Shaft by 100 and dividing the product by the Maximum Length of the Humerus
