Osteoware is a free data recording software for human skeletal material that is managed through the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History.
It is used by biological anthropologists to document data relevant to research and forensic applications of human skeletal remains in a standardized and consistent way.
[6] After the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) was passed as a federal law in 1990, efforts were made in the field of biological anthropology to provide better documentation of skeletal remains.
[7] This act is similar to NAGPRA, in that it requires the repatriation of Native American skeletal remains and spiritually significant artifacts to the Tribes to which they belong.
[11] The Smithsonian has created a forum where users can offer criticisms and potential suggestions to improve Osteoware as a data collection tool.
Currently, Osteoware is expanding its Taphonomy module to include the documentation of peri- and post-mortem cut marks as well as partial versus complete cremation.
[12] Osteoware is also expanding beyond the framework of Buikstra and Ubelaker's Standards for Data Collection from Human Skeletal Remains to include Postcranial Nonmetric Traits.