Interindividual morphologic variability as reason for misinterpretations in forensic osteology exemplified by a rib

: Bone finds make great demands on the examiner. The first priority is to establish the remains as human, because then further analyses have to be performed for identification. Especially for bone fragments it may be extremely difficult to determine whether they are of human or animal origin. In the reported case a bone fragment similar to a human rib was found in a medieval town together with more than 300 non-human bones. As it turned out, a medieval cesspit had been opened during excavation works. Even an mtDNA analysis could not answer the question whether the rib was of human origin. A direct comparison with numerous ribs of humans and mammals showed the great interindividual variability, but in the end it was possible to rule out a human origin and to identify the fragment as the third left rib of a pig.