Variability in osteon size in recent human populations

The possibility of smaller osteons in the cortical bone of Late Pleistocene human populations begs the question of how these histological features vary within individual skeletons among and between populations. The distributional characteristics of total osteon area (On.Ar) and Haversian canal area (H.Ar) are explored using data from three samples of historically known individuals: ribs and femora from eighteenth‐century Huguenots in England (Spitalfields, n = 20), ribs and femora from nineteenth‐century British settlers in Canada (St. Thomas, n = 21), and ribs from twentieth‐century South African cadavers (University of Cape Town; following curatorial classifications, n = 10 white, 10 black, 10 colored). Neither histological variable is normally distributed. About 96% of the random variation is within the individual bone sample. There are no significant differences between sexes for either variable in any sample, and age has no effect in most instances. Femoral osteons are significantly larger than rib osteons within individuals and across samples. Haversian canal area is more variable than On.Ar, especially in the twentieth‐century sample, where within‐sample coefficients of variation are frequently >100%. Using modern centiles developed here, some Late Pleistocene long bone samples have On.Ar values below the range of modern variation. Because of ribs' smaller cross‐sectional areas and less broadly ranging values for On.Ar, ribs would provide a preferable site for future comparative studies. Am J Phys Anthropol 106:219–227, 1998. © 1998 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.