From Engineered Standards to Natural Bone: Re‑constraining Topographical Scanning for Heritage Samples

From Engineered Standards to Natural Bone: Re‑constraining Topographical Scanning for Heritage Samples | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article From Engineered Standards to Natural Bone: Re‑constraining Topographical Scanning for Heritage Samples Christopheer Tompkins, Holly Miller This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-8732397/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Published Journal Publication published 24 Apr, 2026 Read the published version in Scientific Reports → Version 1 posted 10 You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract The microscopic topographical scanning of bone material is a common practice for multiple fields, such as archaeology, medicine, and criminology. However, assessments of whether the tools used to perform these scans are accurate on these objects have yet to be performed. In this work, the performance of the two most common scanning techniques used on bone items, focus variation and 3D confocal scanning, are preliminarily assessed, revealing previously unknown limitations with current measurement practice and technologies. Across a range of bone specimens, the same limitation appears, which does not occur on any of a subset of engineered materials tested. The types of features that bone-focused work would commonly asses such as cutmarks, are revealed to be the most susceptible to distortion. 3D confocal is preliminarily determined as the more accurate technique to use on bone. The discrepancies discovered in this work begin to answer some of the unsolved repeatability problems noted during previous work on bone objects, and highlight how future equipment must be redesigned to accommodate this new style of emerging, critical, applications. Biological sciences/Biological techniques Health sciences/Health care Health sciences/Medical research Full Text Additional Declarations No competing interests reported. Cite Share Download PDF Status: Published Journal Publication published 24 Apr, 2026 Read the published version in Scientific Reports → Version 1 posted Editorial decision: Revision requested 11 Mar, 2026 Reviews received at journal 10 Mar, 2026 Reviews received at journal 09 Mar, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 16 Feb, 2026 Reviewers agreed at journal 13 Feb, 2026 Reviewers invited by journal 05 Feb, 2026 Editor assigned by journal 05 Feb, 2026 Editor invited by journal 05 Feb, 2026 Submission checks completed at journal 02 Feb, 2026 First submitted to journal 02 Feb, 2026 You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. 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Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-8732397","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":586309128,"identity":"d7140285-1c87-4f58-ae6a-0b3109b1086e","order_by":0,"name":"Christopheer Tompkins","email":"data:image/png;base64,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","orcid":"","institution":"University of Nottingham","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Christopheer","middleName":"","lastName":"Tompkins","suffix":""},{"id":586309129,"identity":"93ae1a94-cc20-4eb4-9164-cafdafcccfdc","order_by":1,"name":"Holly Miller","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"University of Nottingham","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Holly","middleName":"","lastName":"Miller","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-01-29 13:54:16","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8732397/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8732397/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[{"content":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-50016-0","type":"published","date":"2026-04-24T15:59:49+00:00"}],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":107928032,"identity":"9cc0eef7-5cae-4a75-9c48-8b9a46fad2c1","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-04-27 16:06:39","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":974883,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"","description":"","filename":"tntcyrqqrpxzqjnsmdjwsmktdbfvtcbz.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-8732397/v1_covered_95844db8-6ede-47a9-8c2e-49cfeff1568b.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"No competing interests reported.","formattedTitle":"From Engineered Standards to Natural Bone: Re‑constraining Topographical Scanning for Heritage Samples","fulltext":[],"fulltextSource":"","fullText":"","funders":[],"hasAdminPriorityOnWorkflow":false,"hasManuscriptDocX":false,"hasOptedInToPreprint":true,"hasPassedJournalQc":"","hasAnyPriority":false,"hideJournal":false,"highlight":"","institution":"","isAcceptedByJournal":true,"isAuthorSuppliedPdf":true,"isDeskRejected":"","isHiddenFromSearch":false,"isInQc":false,"isInWorkflow":false,"isPdf":true,"isPdfUpToDate":true,"isWithdrawnOrRetracted":false,"journal":{"display":true,"email":"[email protected]","identity":"scientific-reports","isNatureJournal":false,"hasQc":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"externalIdentity":"scirep","sideBox":"Learn more about [Scientific Reports](http://www.nature.com/srep/)","snPcode":"","submissionUrl":"","title":"Scientific Reports","twitterHandle":"","acdcEnabled":true,"dfaEnabled":true,"editorialSystem":"stoa","reportingPortfolio":"Scientific Reports","inReviewEnabled":true,"inReviewRevisionsEnabled":true},"keywords":"","lastPublishedDoi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-8732397/v1","lastPublishedDoiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-8732397/v1","license":{"name":"CC BY 4.0","url":"https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/"},"manuscriptAbstract":"The microscopic topographical scanning of bone material is a common practice for multiple fields, such as archaeology, medicine, and criminology. 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