Identification of the remains of John Paul Jones: a look at early methods

The remains of the American revolutionary naval hero, John Paul Jones, were buried in Paris following his death on July 18, 1792. The cemetery was abandoned and the area replaced with private homes. Thus, the remains were obscured until 1905, when the United States Ambassador to France, General Horace Porter, took steps to locate the remains. The identification was carried out by a French team of medical and anthropology experts. The use of a sculpted bust of Jones superimposed on a picture of a similar position of the head proved to be a confirming point which, together with secondary confirmatory points, aided the positive identification of the body. This is perhaps one of the earliest recorded use of this technique in identification.