Computerized reconstruction of fragmentary skeletal remains

•A 3D software, Fragmento, for fragmentary matching and reconstructed was developed.•A bone atlas was used to create 3D templates which represent population averages.•Full bone is created from fragments by interpolating missing anatomy using atlas.•3D virtual environment allows the flexibility for accurate matching compared to 2D.

This research presents a new software, “Fragmento”, for accurate analyses of fragmentary human skeletal remains and facilitation of three-dimensional (3D) fragmentary matching and full bone reconstruction. The framework utilizes the power of statistical bone atlases to create 3D templates for bone matching and to interpolate missing anatomy for full bone reconstruction. Developed tool has enhanced features allowing the user to visualize, review and scale all scanned skeletal remains within a 3D statistical template, merging accepted registered elements to provide a fully reconstructed bone. A three stage validation was performed on Fragmento: Stages I and II used simulated fragmentary data which was compared to full bones with an error less than 3 mm; Stage III compared output from geographic information system (GIS) software with comparable results. This validation process demonstrates the robustness and utility of Fragmento as tool for 3D fragmentary bone matching and full bone reconstruction.