This thesis aims to provide insight on the precision and accuracy of isotopic analysis for identifying unknown persons.
The author reports on a study performed to provide insight on the precision and accuracy of isotopic analysis of oxygen, strontium, carbon, and nitrogen, taken from human teeth, bones, and hair, in order to identify unknown persons. The authors examined two samples, one tooth and one portion of a cortical bone, from each of ten donors with known residential histories, in order to evaluate childhood and adult geolocations. The author also performed sulfur analysis on each cortical bone sample to determine if sulfur ratios could be useful for geolocation purposes. The author’s oxygen isotope values were postponed due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions, however findings indicated that strontium ratios were able to accurately predict the location of 60% of the analyzed individuals, which represented inland and coastal populations. The author found no significant differences from using sulfur analysis.
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