Burned bones forensic investigations employing near infrared spectroscopy

A re-evaluation of manner of death at Roman Herculaneum following the AD 79 eruption of Vesuvius

“…By applying a range of analytical methods and imaging modalities, studies have demonstrated that subtle and complex changes occur within the bone structure as a result of thermal exposure (e.g. Boschin et al 2015;Thompson 2015a & b;Ellingham et al 2015Ellingham et al , 2016Cascant et al 2017). Crucially, it has been argued that these changes can be correlated with specific burning conditions, and hence allow for the contextual interpretation of the event itself.…”

Crystal clear: Vibrational spectroscopy reveals intrabone, intraskeleton, and interskeleton variation in human bones

“…Bone composition can be altered by several taphonomic agents, including weathering, fossilization, grinding and heating (Stiner, Kuhn, Weiner, & Bar‐Yosef, ; Michel, Ildefonse, & Morin, ; Surovell & Stiner, ; Munro, Longstaffe, & White, ; Piga et al, 2009, 2011; Thompson et al, ). In particular, heat‐induced changes have been the focus of numerous studies (e.g., Piga, Malgosa, et al 2008; Piga, Thompson, et al, 2009; Thompson et al, ; Beasley et al, ; Galeano & García‐Lorenzo, ; Piga, Gonçalves, et al, 2016; Cascant et al, ; Gourrier et al, ). Heat‐induced transformation of bone undergoes four different stages (Mayne‐Correia, ; Thompson, ; Etok et al, ): (i) dehydration, at temperatures between 100°C and 600°C; (ii) decomposition, at 300–800°C leading to the pyrolysis of organic components; (iii) inversion, corresponding to changes in the inorganic phase, at 500–1100°C; and (iv) fusion, taking place above 700°C and prompting crystal coalescence.…”

“…Although quite a few studies, using several techniques, have discussed the variability of bone composition as a function of incremental heating (e.g., Von Endt & Ortner, ; Person, Bocherens, Mariotti, & Renard, ; Rogers & Daniels, ; Hiller, Thompson, Evison, Chamberlain, & Wess, ; Etok et al, ; Piga, Malgosa, et al, 2008; Piga, Thompson, et al 2009; Lebon et al, ; Wang et al, ; Marques et al, ; Reidsma, Hoesel, van Os, Megens, & Braadbaart, ; Zohar, Ovadia, & Goren‐Inbar, ; Cascant et al, ; Chen et al, ; Ellingham, Thompson, & Islam, ), little research has been focused on the intrabone, intraskeleton, and interskeleton variability of chemometric indices. Those scarce studies reported important variations that may have a significant impact on subsequent analyses (Thompson et al, ; Snoeck et al, ).…”

Analysis of Sagunto Ibero-Roman votive bronze statuettes by portable X-ray fluorescence

“…PCA is a statistical treatment that allows a multivariate analysis based on reduction of variables and provides a projection of objects in a new space related to the minimum number of independent variables suitable to explain an appropriate amount of signal variance. (Ballabio, 2015;Cascant et al, 2017).…”