It is a legal requirement in a majority of countries for a body to be formally identified upon an individual’s death. To this end, the pathologist facilitates identification in postmortem examinations by examining the body and documenting any unique characteristics that may prove useful in identifying the deceased [1]. Scars, a consequence of damage to the dermis, are invaluable identifying features as they remain throughout life and into death. While they can be accidental or intentional in their origin, they may also provide information on medical, cultural, or social persuasions [1]. Prior to the de facto global eradication of smallpox, it was common to routinely vaccinate against this disease. The nature of the vaccination process necessitated scarification; a bifurcated needle was dipped into vaccine solution, and, most commonly, the person’s upper arm was punctured with the needle multiple times. Each puncture pierced the skin and deposited a small amount of the vaccine. At the vaccination site, a blister would form, crust over, and heal over a period of several weeks, leaving a round, vague, whitish, shallow scar behind. Due to the significant inflammation and the destruction of the tissue, smallpox vaccine scars are large, usually measuring more than 1–2 cm. While it is true that scars from cigarette burns and ‘‘skin popping’’ might resemble the scars produced by smallpox vaccinations [2, 3], the appearance, and localization of the smallpox vaccine scars allow them to be easily identified due to their typical nature (Fig. 1). Between 1930 and 1972, no cases of smallpox were recorded in what was previously the territory of the former Yugoslavia. During this timeframe, smallpox vaccinations were obligatory for children, and approximately 70–80 % of the population was protected in this manner [4]. Smallpox and BCG vaccinations were typically administered in the area of the upper arm. In the former Yugoslavia, they were usually administered in the area of the right upper arm for small children and in the left upper arm for adolescents and adults. In 1972, the last major European outbreak of smallpox occurred in the former Yugoslavia, after an Islamic clergyman and pilgrim was infected by the disease during a ritual Hajj to Mecca, stopping over in Iraq. The epidemic outbreak infected 175 people, resulting in 35 deaths. To combat the outbreak, state authorities declared martial law, enforced a quarantine, and undertook widespread re-vaccination of the entire population. Approximately 18 million people were revaccinated as a result of this program. The outbreak was successfully contained after 2 months [4]. Notably, this outbreak occurred only seven years prior to the certification of the global eradication of smallpox in 1979. Given these historically recent circumstances, there is great probability that a Caucasian that possesses two smallpox vaccine scars on the upper arm had been born, and was living, in the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia until at least 1972: one scar would be due to the smallpox vaccination the individual would have received in S. Nikolic V. Živkovic (&) Institute of Forensic Medicine, University of Belgrade—School of Medicine, 31a Deligradska Str., 11000 Belgrade, Serbia e-mail: vladinmejl@yahoo.com; vladimir.zivkovic@mfub.bg.ac.rs