Department of Oncology-Pathology, Karolinska Institute, 171 77 Stockholm, Sweden.
Department of Forensic Medicine, The National Board of Forensic Medicine, 171 77 Stockholm, Sweden.
Biomolecules. 2021 Nov 8;11(11):1655. doi: 10.3390/biom11111655.
The identification of unknown human remains represents an important task in forensic casework. If there are no clues as to the identity of the remains, then the age, sex, and origin are the most important factors to limit the search for a matching person. Here, we present the outcome of application of so-called bomb pulse radiocarbon (C derived from above-ground nuclear bomb tests during 1955-1963) analysis to birthdate human remains. In nine identified cases, C analysis of tooth crowns provided an estimate of the true date of birth with an average absolute error of 1.2 ± 0.8 years. Analysis of C in tooth roots also showed a good precision with an average absolute error of 2.3 ± 2.5 years. Levels of C in bones can determine whether a subject has lived after 1955 or not, but more precise carbon turnover data for bones would be needed to calculate date of birth and date of death. Aspartic acid racemization analysis was performed on samples from four cases; in one of these, the year of birth could be predicted with good precision, whereas the other three cases are still unidentified. The stable isotope C was analyzed in tooth crowns to estimate provenance. Levels of C indicative of Scandinavian provenance were found in known Scandinavian subjects. Teeth from four Polish subjects all showed higher C levels than the average for Scandinavian subjects.
鉴定无名遗体是法医学工作中的一项重要任务。如果没有关于遗体身份的线索，那么年龄、性别和来源是限制寻找匹配者的最重要因素。在这里，我们介绍了所谓的爆炸物脉冲放射性碳（C 来自 1955 年至 1963 年期间的地面核爆炸试验）分析在出生日期遗体鉴定中的应用结果。在九个已确定的案例中，牙冠的 C 分析提供了真实出生日期的估计，平均绝对误差为 1.2±0.8 岁。牙根管中 C 的分析也显示出良好的精度，平均绝对误差为 2.3±2.5 岁。骨骼中的 C 水平可以确定一个人是否在 1955 年后生活过，但需要更多关于骨骼中碳周转率的精确数据来计算出生日期和死亡日期。对来自四个案例的样本进行了天冬氨酸外消旋分析；其中一个案例可以很好地预测出生年份，而其他三个案例仍未确定。对牙冠进行了稳定同位素 C 分析，以估计来源。在已知的斯堪的纳维亚人身上发现了表明斯堪的纳维亚来源的 C 水平。来自四个波兰人的牙齿的 C 水平均高于斯堪的纳维亚人的平均水平。
