Cremation in Southwestern North America: Aspects of Taphonomy that Affect Pathological Analysis

Reinhard, Karl J.; Fink, T. Michael

doi:10.1006/jasc.1994.1059

Cited by 31 publications

(15 citation statements)

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“…Although fire may destroy evidence of trauma, it does not do so in all circumstances (20)(21)(22)(23)(24). The prevalence of recovered cut marks was 55.0% for the smooth-edged knife and 81.8% for the serrated knife.…”

Section: Burned Bonementioning

confidence: 99%

SEM and Stereomicroscopic Analysis of Cut Marks in Fresh and Burned Bone

Kooi

Fairgrieve

2012

Journal of Forensic Sciences

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This study documents the prevalence of cut mark characteristics in fresh and burned domestic pig ribs. Stab wounds from single edge serrated and smooth-edged knives were inflicted in the vertebral and sternal regions of each fresh rib. Each rack of ribs was then divided into vertebral and sternal units. Vertebral units were defleshed and their associated cut marks were examined using a stereomicroscope. Sternal units were burned in an outdoor fire pit and examined with the addition of a scanning electron microscope (SEM). Linear cuts, V-shaped cross-sections, mounding, hinge fractures, and wastage were all observed on burned ribs. There was an overall decrease in the prevalence of all features (up to a 40% decrease), regardless of knife type, in burned ribs. Striations within cut marks were not observed in either fresh or burned ribs. Oblique faulting and bone lifts could only be observed using the SEM. Mounding and wastage were obliterated during the burning process. Therefore, cut marks in burned bone should ideally be examined for their characteristics utilizing an SEM.

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Section: Burned Bonementioning

confidence: 99%

SEM and Stereomicroscopic Analysis of Cut Marks in Fresh and Burned Bone

Kooi

Fairgrieve

2012

Journal of Forensic Sciences

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“…As is outlined above, most human cadavers from the third millennium BC sites were cremated. The major challenges presented by studies of cremated skeletal material are well documented (see, for example, Janssens, 1970, p. 22;Reinhard & Fink, 1994;Mays, 1998, pp. 209 -210).…”

Section: Skeletal Preservationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Limited yet informative: pathological alterations observed on human skeletal remains from third and second millennia bc collective burials in the United Arab Emirates

Blau

2001

Intl J of Osteoarchaeology

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While syntheses of palaeopathological studies have been undertaken in many parts of the world, until recently little was known about human health in the past in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Focusing on skeletal pathologies, this paper documents the results of the first synthetic palaeopathologlcal study for this country. The collections of archaeological human skeletal remains come from three sites dating to the third and two sites dating to the second millennia BC and consist predominantly of disarticulated, partially fragmented and often cremated remains. The paper initially discusses potential explanations for the neglected study of human skeletal remains from the UAE. This discussion is followed by an outline of the types of burial practices employed in the past in this region and their effects on preservation. The nature of the collections and the methodology employed in their study are described. Using specific headings, the pathological findings are then documented, followed by a discussion of the results of the skeletal analysis in light of the available archaeological evidence. Finally, it is shown that although limited by preservation, analyses of human skeletal remains provide valuable details about the types of diseases that affected people in the past in the UAE. While less detailed than some palaeopathological syntheses, the results presented in this paper lay the foundations for further work on humans in the past in eastern Arabia.

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“…Earlier studies have generally been confined to quantifying chemical changes that occur when bone is burned (McCutcheon, 1992;McKinley, 1994;Reinhard and Fink, 1994;Taylor et al, 1995) and distinguishing burned bones from bones blackened by other processes (Sillen and Hoering, 1993;Shahack-Gross and Bar-Yosef, 1997). Many cremations produce bones that still contain organic matter in the form of thermally altered organics or reduced carbon.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

“…261-263), including Anglo-Saxon and Roman Britain (McKinley, 1994). In North America, cremations are known from the Hohokam and Mogollon cultures of the southwestern United States (Reinhard and Fink, 1994). Examples from eastern North America span the entire cultural sequence for the region, from one of the earliest Late Paleoindian burials known from the Great Lakes region (Mason, 1981, p. 117) through the Early Archaic of the Southeast (Chapman, 1973), Late Archaic (Perino, 1968), Ohio and Illinois Hopewell (Baby, 1954;Asch, 1976), the Late Woodland (Buikstra and Goldstein, 1973) and the Late Prehistoric period (Perino, 1971;Brown, 1981;Schurr, 1987).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%