The Application of NextEngine Scanning Technology to Commingled Skeletal Analysis at the Milwaukee County Poor Farm Cemetery: A Replicable Method for Restoring Individuality

Abstract

The analysis and subsequent disentanglement of human skeletal elements from commingled or mixed burial contexts is an essential step in creating individual identifications of those individuals represented in these burials. This work is integral to the overall goal of using methodologically robust techniques to contextualize and represent individuals recovered in archaeological or forensic settings. A suite of commingled burial analysis methods are currently used to achieve this goal. These methods are essential to the field, but can still introduce error. To provide additional lines of evidence to support these analyses, this study investigates the efficacy of a three-dimensional pair-matching technique, using a NextEngine™ scanner and both open source and proprietary software to test two methods of mesh-to-mesh value comparison for reliability and replicability.