Mastering MySQL Database Architecture: Deep Dive into MySQL Shell and MySQL R...
Cremation presentation Marcelle La Croix
1. a presentation on cremated remains
By: Marcelle LaCroix
Session 6 Presentation
25 August 2012
2. Determining if bone has come into contact
with fire
Estimating the maximum temperature of
the fire
Using changes in color and fracture
patterns to estimate the condition of bone
Determing the degree to alteration by
burning
4. Oxygen
availability
Duration
of cremation
Materials
used
5. Stage Temperature Range Color
1 < 285°C Neutral white, pale yellow, yellow
2 285 - 525° C Reddish brown, very dark grey-brown,
neutral dark grey, reddish-yellow
3 525 – 645°C Neutral black with some blue and reddish-
yellow
4 645-940°C Neutral white with light blue-grey and light
grey
5 940+ °C Neutral white with some medium grey amd
reddish-yellow
6. Color Interpretation References
Brown Hemoglobin and/or soil Gejvall 1969; Lisowski
discoloration 1968
Black Carbonized bone due to Herrmann 1970
burning in oxygen
starved context
Gray-blue, gray white Pyrolizaed organic Dokládal 1969, 1970;
components; calcination; Mayne Correia 1997
complete loss of organic
portion and fusion of
bone salts
Other colors: green, Burning in the presence Dunlop 1978; Gejvall
yellow, pink and red of metals including 1969; Lisowski 1968
copper, bronze or iron
7.
8.
9. copper = pink color
iron = green color
zinc = yellow color
bronze = blue/green color
10. Buikstra JE and Swegle M. Bone modification due to burning: experimental evidence. In Bone
Modification, ed. R Bonnichsen and MH Sorg, 247-258. Peopling of the Americas
Publications.
Dokládal, M. 1969. Über die heutigen möglichkeiten der personenidentifikation auf grund
von verbrannten knochen. In: Aktuelle kriminologie. Hamburg: Kriminolog Verlag, p.
223-246.
Dokládal M 1970. Ergebnisse experimenteller verbrennungen zur feststellung von formund
grössenveränderungen von menschenknochen unter fem einfluss von hohen temperaturnen.
Anthropologie 8:3-17.
Dunlop J. 1978. Traffic light discoloration in cremated bone. Meidcine, Science and the Law
18:163-173.
Gejvall, N.-G. 1969. Cremations. In: Brothwell, D., and E. Higgs, editors. Science in Archaeology.
London: Thames and Hudson, p. 468–479.
Herrmann, B. 1970. Anthroplogische bearbeitung der Leichenbräden von Berlin-Rudow.
Ausgrabungen in Berlin 1:61–71.
Pijoan CM, Mansilla J, Leboreiro I. 2007. Thermal alterations in archaeological bones.
Archaeometry 49: 713-727.
Stiner MC, Kuhn SL. 1995. Differential burning, recrystallization, and fragmentation of
archaaological bone. Journal of Archaeological Science: 22: 223-237.
Editor's Notes
Archaeological interest in burned bone has centered upon four topics:Determining whether or not bone has come into contact with fireEstimating the maximum temperature attained by a fireUsing changes in superficial bone color and fracture patterns to estimate the condition of bone at the time it was exposed to fireDtermining the degree to which the original dimensions of the element have been altered by burning
The process of burning bone is essentially a process of dehydration and recrystallization. Bone will undergo dehydration and be subjected to the corresponding changes. Specifically, the elimination of water, and the subsequent consumption of the organic portion of bone and the microstructural alterations to the hard matrix of bone results in a color change, as well as splitting and warping.
Oxygen availability has a profound effect on the color of cremated bones exposed to the same cremation temperaturesAs the duration of cremation increases, the influence of oxygen availability on bone color gradually diminishes
Shipman et al. (1984) established a correlation between colour and temperature. However, color changes may be due to bone interaction with environmental materials. After burial, bone may be altered and may change color as a result of soil composition, sediment pH, temperature or moisture, and the changes may occur in the bone tissue as ionic substitution.
Black bones have been discovered in the Northern Coast Cave. Two areas of the cave have exhibited signs of burning. Both these sites contain infant remains. Using previous research, the black color of the bones indicates that the bones may be carbonized bone due to burning in oxygen starved context (Herrmann 1970) or simply that the temperatures reached by the cremation fires were between 525 to 645 degrees Celsius (Shipman et al. 1984).The remains found seem to indicate that infant remains were subject to cremation in the Taliotic culture.
In the Cueva de la Costa Norte” (“Northern coast cave”) some of the skeletal remains are a blue/green color as shown here. This indicates that the bones were burned with bronze. Bronze turns a greenish color when it oxidizes. Not only is oxygen necessary for cremation fires, but also the bones may have been exposed to open air for a period of time before they were covered.