Bilateral Asymmetry of Nutrient Foramen Position in Forearm Bones: Implications for its Use in Sorting Commingled Remains.

Commingling is frequently encountered in cases examined by the Committee on Missing Persons in Cyprus, and pair-matching is routinely used as a preliminary segregation method. Here we examine the degree of bilateral asymmetry in nutrient foramen position of the radius and ulna to determine whether nutrient foramen position may be useful in visual and/or ostetometric pair-matching. Differences in nutrient foramen position between left-right pairs from the same individual were compared with differences in nutrient foramen position between different individuals. Bilateral asymmetry in nutrient foramen position was found to be high, indicating that it is not a reliable trait for pair-matching. Bilateral asymmetry and between-person variation were found to differ between the two bones examined, suggesting that nutrient foramen position in other long bones should also be tested.