A Comparison of Maceration Techniques for Use in Forensic Skeletal Preparations

Maceration removes all soft tissue from the bones. It must be done without damaging or morphing the bone. To examine the effectiveness of methods, six techniques were applied to a convenience sample of skeletal elements: simmering with two different degreasing agents (Dawn® and Greased Lightning®), power washing, insect scavenging, microwave maceration, and physical maceration. A Likert scale (modified from [1]) was used to rate the techniques. Warm water maceration with Greased Lightning® was the most effective, but warm water techniques in general rated well.