It is not uncommon in various archaeological contexts to observe commingling and fragmentation of human skeletal remains due to secondary burial practices, collective tombs, ossuaries and post-depositional disturbances. This presentation will explore the application of 3D geometric morphometrics as a quantitative, non-destructive tool for the reassociation of commingled human remains, both from archaeological material and modern cemeterial remains collections. Based on previous validated morphometric research, this study applied 3D shape analysis to the thoracic vertebrae (T2-T9) that show no morphological difference to assess anatomical compatibility and morphological similarity. This approach was used to provide an objective means where traditional visual comparison is constrained by fragmentation, handling, or limitations of distances. A total of 98 individuals from three skeletal collections in Greece were included in this study. All vertebrae were digitized using a handheld 3D scanner, and landmarks were placed on the generated models. The coordinate data resulting from the landmark placement were standardized through Procrustes superimposition to eliminate size effects and allow comparison through shape variation. Identification performance varied across all thoracic vertebrae in question, with the highest accuracy observed for T2, frequently exceeding 81% and the lowest for T6 vertebrae. To further assess sorting potential, the research focused on the two most frequently occurring adjacent vertebral pairs of the sample, T4-T5 and T5-T6. Pairs exhibiting the smallest Procrustes distances were interpreted as belonging to the same individual, with 66.2% of the cases being correctly associated within the first three possible matches.
The results of this study indicate that 3D geometric morphometric methods could substantially improve the objectivity, consistency, and reliability of sequencing and reassociation of thoracic vertebrae. This approach has strong potential for application in both forensic and bioarchaeological contexts, although further research is necessary to assess its robustness and broader applicability fully.

First Author: Myrsini Voulgari

Co-Authors: Ioanna Anastopoulou , Konstantinos Moraitis

Keywords:
Commingling
Sorting
Sequencing
3D geometric morphometrics
Thoracic vertebrae