The Utility of Skeletal and Surgical Features for the Personal Identification Process: A Pilot Study: Personal Identification and Forensic Anthropology

This pilot study provides a conceptual framework for the application of the anthropological analysis of skeletal features andsurgical interventions for the purpose of identification in cases of unknown deceased individuals with unavailable fingerprint, genetic or odonto-logical antemortem data. The study sample includes 276 individuals with known demographic and clinical information from the Italian CALMilano Cemetery Skeletal Collection. In the sample, 124 (45%) individuals showed one or more skeletal features that may be potentially indi-vidualizing. Of these, 79% showed two and more features, which occurred in a multitude of different combinations. Skeletal findings may pro-vide useful postmortem information that can be compared with antemortem witness statements and clinical imaging. However, more researchinto the utility of dry bone findings and the availability of comparative material, including imaging, and epidemiological data needs to beundertaken before skeletal features can be implemented into identification protocols and databases.