Bone is the tissue that makes up the skeleton.  Bone is composed mainly of minerals and collagen, with the minerals (mainly calcium carbonate) making up about 65% of the total mass.  The structure makes bones resistant to decay, and skeletal remains may be submitted to the laboratory for identification.  Physical attributes such as size and shape, and the presence of injury sites, are probably the most valuable aspects of skeletal remains to examine.  However, on occasions serological typing is required.  This was not a fruitful area in traditional serology, but does yield excellent evidence in DNA typing.

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