Murphy, Adrian (Archaeological Sciences Laboratories, University of Queensland)

Faces in the Crowd: Individuation of Commingled Burials

Human burials provide archaeologists with a vast array of information that cannot be gained from other sources of data. Although mass graves present various problems for investigators, including individuating remains and accurately determining the number of people present, they are valuable for research on a large sample of people, often from one time period and one location. The use of ultraviolet fluorescence to individuate commingled remains has not been studies since 1975 owing to inconsistent results. This research was a feasibility study to ascertain if a chemical fluorescent dye can enhance the results of this technique.

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