The Winthir Collection: An Identified Historical Skeletal Series From Munich, Germany

Documented skeletal collections that can be linked to individual life-history information remain critical resources for bioarchaeological research, yet nonmodern identified series are still rare in Central Europe. We present the Winthir Collection, a late-19th-century skeletal assemblage from Munich, Germany, comprising 245 identified individuals recovered from an abandoned cemetery extension. Individual attribution was achieved through the integration of osteological analysis with grave registry data and archival sources. For most individuals, reconstructed profiles include age at death, place of birth, family relations, marital status, occupation, and recorded cause of death, allowing skeletal observations to be interpreted within a documented biographical framework. The assemblage contains a substantial number of non-adults (n = 90), markedly expanding the limited pool of identified non-adult remains available for the region. Preservation is generally good, and skeletal evidence of medical intervention-including cranial procedures consistent with autopsy-can be evaluated alongside documentary information. Curated at the State Collection for Anthropology Munich, the Winthir Collection offers a rare opportunity to examine osteological variation within a historically documented population and provides an important reference dataset for future methodological work, particularly in the study of non-adult remains.