ABSTRACT
This chapter emphasizes the methods and techniques useful for the preparation of remains, in order to enable the anthropological examination and prepare a case report. The idea is to minimize any contamination or unnecessary destruction during the preparation of the skeletal material. Ultimately, the goal of skeletal preparation is to remove any adhering soft tissue or soil, in order to examine the bone morphology or surface features more closely, while being mindful of the potential evidentiary nature of all the material recovered. The recovered remains may be relatively fresh material taken at autopsy, fragmentary or burned remains from an explosion or plane crash, decomposing soft tissue remains, or dry skeletal remains. Each of these conditions requires unique processing techniques.
