Application of laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy and neural networks on archaeological human bones for the discrimination of distinct individuals

•LIBS combined with Neural Networks to classify archaeological bones of individuals.•Bone elemental fingerprint separated into two groups representing different components.•Group 1 reflects elements of the bone matrix and living bone tissue.•Group 2 reflects elements related to diagenesis.•LIBS-NN can be used to distinguish individuals in commingled skeletal assemblages.