New York African Burial Ground Skeletal Biology Final Report, Volume 1. Chapter 4. Laboratory Organization, Methods, and Processes

This chapter describes the organization of skeletal recordation in the laboratory. This work requires specialized personnel, task teams, and processes that convert fragile fragments of soil-encased bone into skeletal elements that reveal accurate anatomical structure and observable effects of physiological processes that can be assessed for genetic, demographic, and pathologic information. That information is then coded and entered into a computer database where all information on each individual can be tracked and statistical data on sample groups of skeletons can be manipulated. Skeletal recordation was completed in 1999 resulting in an estimated 250,000 observations on the 419 human remains. Photographic and radiographic documentation and sampling of bone and dental tissue were also undertaken for future research. A collection containing more than 55,000 photographs (mainly slides and digitized images) and over 2,000 x-ray radiographs, and a small sample of cranial CAT scans has been assembled.

本章阐述了实验室骨骼建档工作的组织流程。此项工作需配备专业人员与任务团队，并依托规范流程，将包裹于土壤中的易碎骨碎片转化为可精准呈现解剖结构的骨骼标本，同时留存可用于遗传学、人口统计学及病理学信息评估的生理过程观测效应。所得信息将被编码并录入计算机数据库，借此可追踪每一具个体遗骸的全部相关信息，并对骨骼样本组的统计数据进行处理分析。骨骼建档工作于1999年完成，共计对419具人类遗骸完成了约25万条观测记录。此外，为支撑后续研究，研究团队还完成了骨骼与牙齿组织的摄影成像、放射影像学记录及样本采集工作。现已建成配套资料馆藏：包含5.5万余张影像资料（以幻灯片及数字化图像为主）、2000余张X射线胶片，以及少量颅脑CAT扫描样本。