Human Identification and Osteobiographies

Human Identification and
Osteobiographies
Steps of Identification
Background Recovery of remains Laboratory analysis
Research and reconciliation
 Oral sources  Locating  Primary
 Written sources  Mapping identification
 Videos  Documenting markers
 Pictures  Retrieving  Secondary
 Collecting identification
antemortem data markers
(before death) –  Comparison
social media, etc between.
Antemortem and
postmortem data
For example, in a plane crash you can use family & witnesses, passport
details and passenger list to identify how many people were on the plane
and information about them like age and gender.

Antemortem and postmortem data
 Family & witnesses
 Dental and medical records (including radiographic images)
 Fingerprint (useful however not useful if only a skeleton)
 DNA (useful however depending on how much of the body is
degraded will depend on how good the DNA is)
 Personal item data such as jewellery and clothes (lots of
people have the same clothes and jewellery so it’s not
personal to you, also you could give it to someone else)
 Other identification, e.g., tattoos, medical implants, passport
details, passenger lists.
Primary Identifiers
Need to have at least one of these to have a positive
identification:
 Odontology – teeth, such as fillings, as will have traces of
filling on certain parts
 Ridgeology – i.e., finger and footprints
 DNA – useful tool but be careful with it
DNA analysis