Nora Fitak, “It’s Always the Small Pieces that Make the Big Picture: Tips and Tricks for the Identification of Fragmentary Adult Human Bone”
Mentor: Shannon Freire, Anthropology, Letters & Science (College of)
Poster #88
This project is about compiling a list of “tips and tricks” for identifying and refitting adult human bone fragments from archaeological contexts. Identifying and refitting fragments yields additional information for the osteological documentation (biological profile) of an archaeological individual. The research methods for this project consist of several parts; firstly, researching and examining various methods for analyzing and distinguishing bone fragments, then testing and applying that knowledge to determine how effective and successful those methods are. The final part is establishing what the most helpful combination of applied methods is to produce the most accurate, consistent, and reliable results. The anticipated conclusions of this project are that the most reliable methods for analysis of human osteological fragments will be based on a decision tree that includes consideration of size, anatomy, pattern recognition, and functional aspects. For refitting fragments, the most reliable methods will be based on a decision tree that includes consideration of pair matching, taphonomy, morphology, pathology, and degree of bone preservation. The recommendations for the most reliable methods are applicable for bone known to be human, adult, and are further based on the assumption that the analyst does not have access to various technologies, such as DNA analysis. This research will aid professionals and students alike and act as a resource for identifying fragmented human osteological elements. These tips and tricks for fragmented bone identification are useful in the fields of archaeology, biological anthropology, forensic science, criminal justice, and more.