Figure 1.

Materials of this study. A total of 291 skeletons were divided into SIB group and Non-SIB group (Step 1). Individuals whose whole spinal bones were kept and observed numbered 25 in SIB group and 92 in Non-SIB group (randomly selected) (Step 2). To focus on the degenerative changes with ageing phenomena in the vertebral bones, the statistical examination objects were confined to the skeletons older than 60 years old, 22 individuals from the SIB group and 48 individuals from the Non-SIB group (Step 3).