Putting the Puzzle Together – Using Mass in the Reassociation of Commingled Human Remains

Abstract

One of the ongoing challenges faced by physical and forensic anthropologists when called to sites where remains are commingled is accurately and efficiently re-associating body parts. This is an essential task, which allows for analysis of trauma, potential identification of individuals, and the eventual return of the bodies to their families and communities. However, the conditions in the field, often characterised by a lack of political and economic resources, or the poor condition of the remains themselves, precludes the use of techniques such as DNA analysis. As such, anthropologists rely on more basic re-association techniques.

This research examines the potential for mass to be used as one of the variables in the reassociation of commingled human remains, and specifically paired elements; matched humeri and femora. Using two different statistical models from Byrd and Adams (2003, 2009) and Thomas, Ubelaker and Byrd (2013), mass is tested in comparison to more regularly used osteometric measurements in accuracy of pair-matching and exclusionary power.

The results demonstrated that mass has significant potential in simplifying and making more efficient some methods of pair-matching. The results for the femora proved to be more consistent, demonstrating potentially greater bi-lateral symmetry in those elements in comparison to the humeri. More testing is needed to confirm and expand these results with a larger sample set, and the expansion of appropriate reference data sets.