Results of a large-scale humeri pair matching study

Area of Science:

• Forensic Anthropology
• Bioarchaeology
• Human Osteology

Background:

• Pair-matching commingled human remains is vital for DNA sampling and individual count estimation in forensic investigations.
• The accuracy of visual pair-matching for large commingled assemblages remains largely unquantified.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the accuracy of visual pair-matching for humeri in a large commingled human assemblage.
• To evaluate the performance of multiple observers in identifying paired humeri.

Main Methods:

• Five anthropologists visually pair-matched 580 left and right humeri from the USS Oklahoma commingled remains.
• Participants assigned confidence levels to their pair and non-pair determinations.
• Precision rates were calculated across all participants and confidence levels.

Main Results:

• Overall precision for visual humeri pair-matching was 81.0%, with individual rates ranging from 74.1% to 95.9%.
• When considering only confident matches, overall precision increased to 91.4%.
• The study utilized a large dataset of 580 humeri from the USS Oklahoma.

Conclusions:

• Visual pair-matching of humeri is a reliable method for large commingled assemblages, supporting DNA sampling and individual identification.
• High precision rates, especially with confident matches, validate its use in forensic anthropology.
• Observer experience and confidence levels influence pair-matching accuracy.