Research Article
A Systematic Approach to the Application of Soft Tissue Histopathology in Paleopathology
Table 2
Evaluation criteria.
| Points | Tissue overall structure (integrity) | Presence of specific (sub)structures | Presence of artefacts | Staining properties |
| 0 | Strong fragmentation, less than 25% of tissue intact | No substructures present/identifiable | Presence of numerous artefact foci (e.g., >10 crystal deposits >10 per HPF) | No specific staining (only nonspecific staining) | 1 | 26–50% of tissue intact | Few substructures present (in 1–3 HPF) | Many artefact foci (5–10 artefacts per HPF) | Weak staining of specific structures | 2 | 51–75% of tissue intact | Occasional substructures present (in 4–10 HPF) | Occasional artefact foci (1–4 artefact foci per HPF) | Moderate staining of specific structures | 3 | 76–90% of tissue intact | Many substructures present (in 10–20 HPF) | No artefact foci | Good staining of specific structures | 4 | Tissue completely intact (91–100%) | Abundant substructures present (in >20 HPF) | — | — |
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HPF: high power field (visual field at magnification 400).
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