Association of commingled human skeletal remains by their elemental profile using handheld laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy.

When multiple sets of skeletonized human remains exist in the same context, they can become commingled due to multifactorial circumstances that affect the postmortem environment. Numerous techniques exist for reassociating commingled skeletal remains (e.g.

Reassociation of Skeletal Remains Using Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy.

A major challenge in forensic anthropology and bioarcheology is the development of fast and effective methods for sorting commingled remains. This study assesses how portable laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy (LIBS) can be used to group skeletal remains based on their elemental profiles. LIBS spectra were acquired from the remains of 45 modern skeletons, with a total data set of 8388 profiles from 1284 bones.