NDLI: Cremation under fire: a review of bioarchaeological approaches from 1995 to 2015

Content Provider	Springer Nature Link
Author	Gonçalves, David Pires, Ana Elisabete
Copyright Year	2016
Abstract	The study of bioarchaeological evidence associated with burials is essential for achieving a global perspective on cremation as a funerary practice, its chronological and geographical distribution, as well as its inner socio-cultural and technological diversity. However, for that purpose, similar and consistent analyses must be adopted by bioarchaeologists to enable intra- and inter-sites comparisons. The 1995–2015 literature encompassing 84 geographically representative articles concerning bioarchaeological studies of burned human skeletal remains is reviewed herein. The objective was to assess methodological variability. Information concerning colour, fragmentation, skeleton completeness, ‘skeletal region’ representation, non-human funerary assemblage, pre-burning condition of the remains, minimum number of individuals, biological profile, trauma and pathologies was considered. The results demonstrate that certain methods were used by almost all researchers. That was the case for colour description (91 %), skeleton completeness (91 %), minimum number of individuals (96 %), age-at-death (100 %) and sex of the individuals (95 %). Researchers are much more divided about the implementation of the remaining methods. Methodological choices also vary. The asymmetries in the selection of the analyses that are undertaken can lead to different interpretations and conclusions of the contexts under study. This may prevent consistent comparisons within the same site and between different sites. We emphasize the need for bioarchaeologists to discuss and standardize analytical procedures for studying cremated remains.
Starting Page	1677
Ending Page	1688
Page Count	12
File Format	PDF
ISSN	18669557
Journal	Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences
Volume Number	9
Issue Number	8
e-ISSN	18669565
Language	English
Publisher	Springer Berlin Heidelberg
Publisher Date	2016-04-18
Publisher Place	Berlin, Heidelberg
Access Restriction	One Nation One Subscription (ONOS)
Subject Keyword	Biological anthropology Osteoarchaeology Burned bones Funerary practice Human remains Earth Sciences Archaeology Chemistry/Food Science Geography Life Sciences Anthropology
Content Type	Text
Resource Type	Article
Subject	Archeology Archeology (arts and humanities) Anthropology

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