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Biological and Physical Anthropology

University of Tennessee, Knoxville

Commingling

Articles 1 - 3 of 3

Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Chemical Elemental Analysis Using Portable X-Ray Fluorescence As A Means Of Sorting Commingled Human Remains, Matthew Mikal Davis Dec 2021

Chemical Elemental Analysis Using Portable X-Ray Fluorescence As A Means Of Sorting Commingled Human Remains, Matthew Mikal Davis

Masters Theses

Anthropological analyses include the examination of individual skeletal elements to estimate the biological profile of an unknown individual (age, sex, stature, and ancestry). Commingled human remains (the remains of multiple individuals mixed together) present a significant challenge to these analyses. Commingled skeletal elements may appear similar in size and color, making visual determinations of which bones belong to a certain person insufficient to ensure accurate sorting. Furthermore, when remains are fragmentary as well as commingled, it is more complicated to re-associate each element with a single individual. Traditional methods of sorting commingled remains include pair matching, osteometrics, taphonomic assessment, and …


A Biologically Informed Structure To Accuracy In Osteometric Reassociation, Kyle Mccormick May 2016

A Biologically Informed Structure To Accuracy In Osteometric Reassociation, Kyle Mccormick

Doctoral Dissertations

Commingled assemblages present a common situation in osteological analysis where discrete sets of remains are not readily apparent, thereby hindering biological profile construction and the identification process. Of the methods available for resolving commingling, osteometric reassociation is considered a reliable and relatively objective technique. Traditional osteometric sorting methodologies is a decision-making, error-mitigation approach, where possible matches are eliminated if the calculated pvalue exceeds an analyst-defined threshold. This approach implicitly assumes that all bone comparisons are equally accurate as long as the threshold is attained. This assumption, however, is not based in biological reality. This study tests a hypothetical structure of …


Issues Of Commingling Within The Gold Mine Site (16ri13) Collection: Adult Human Humeri And Tibiae, Kinsey Brett Stewart Dec 2013

Issues Of Commingling Within The Gold Mine Site (16ri13) Collection: Adult Human Humeri And Tibiae, Kinsey Brett Stewart

Masters Theses

Gold Mine (16RI13) is a Troyville ossuary mound site (circa CE 825) in northeastern Louisiana. Approximately 10-20% of the primary mound (Mound A) was excavated over the course of three field seasons (1978-1980), yielding a host of human skeletal remains. Extensively commingled secondary burials make up the majority of interments. The number of individuals represented within the collection (N) has been estimated at 150+ (McGimsey 2004:214), but attempts to quantitatively determine N have produced varied results. Formal analysis of the skeletal collection is complicated by the loss of provenience for many remains as well as additional post-excavation fragmentation …