Distinguishing Remains of Human Cremations from Burned Animal Bones

Whyte, Thomas R.

doi:10.1179/jfa.2001.28.3-4.437

Cited by 55 publications

(57 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…Our results confirmed previous studies that documented the occurrence of heat-induced warping in dry bones [11,13,16] in contrast to the observations made by other researchers who were only able to witness it on either fleshed or green bones [14,37]. Recently, Gonçalves et al [11,16] hypothesized that a good preservation of collagen-apatite bonds and a gradual and slow increase in the burning temperature would allow the collagen to develop a contractile force required for the occurrence of warping and thumbnail fractures.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 95%

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Rather yield than break: assessing the influence of human bone collagen content on heat-induced warping through vibrational spectroscopy

et al. 2016

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Warping has been used to determine the pre-burning condition of human skeletal remains. In the literature, this modification has been associated more often with the burning of fleshed and green bones, but it also arises during the burning of dry bones. The objective of this paper was to assess if bone collagen content has a significant effect on the occurrence of warping in a sample of experimentally burned human bones. The presence of collagen was analyzed in two different samples through a vibrational spectroscopy technology-FTIR. One of them was composed of 40 archeological bones from the seventeenth to twentieth centuries AD. The other one was composed of bones from 14 skeletons belonging to the 21st century identified skeletal collection. The results confirmed that the amide I band assigned to the collagen was much more intense in bones presenting heat-induced warping. Nonetheless, although significant (p = 0.040), the collagen content was not as useful as other variables to the regression model we proposed for explaining warping. Factors such as the maximum temperature (p < 0.001) and burning time (p = 0.001) contributed more significantly. Results demonstrated that the mere preservation of collagen is not enough to explain warping. Burning dynamics seem to have an important role as well although we failed to clearly document its specificities. Other factors such as the asymmetric distribution of collagen and other components within bone, the gravity force, the shape of the bone, and the position in which it is burned may also play an important role on heat-induced changes and require further analysis.

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Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 95%

“…Along with heat-induced fractures, warping has been used to estimate the pre-burning condition of the remains [1][2][3][4][5][6][7][8]. It has been associated more often with the burning of corpses still displaying soft tissues [12,13], but can also arise during the burning of unfleshed human bones, although less frequently [11][12][13].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Rather yield than break: assessing the influence of human bone collagen content on heat-induced warping through vibrational spectroscopy

et al. 2016

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“…Whyte [69] conducted experiments with non-human animal remains. Burning of fleshed remains produced distinctive fractures sometimes in association with warping.…”

Section: Fleshed Vs Dry Bonementioning

confidence: 99%

The forensic evaluation of burned skeletal remains: A synthesis

Ubelaker

2009

Forensic Science International

266

165

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“…Special Issue on Digital Zooarchaeology between bones burned with the flesh still on and defleshed bones (Binford 1963;Whyte 2001), it has to be pointed out that our study involved only defleshed bones and our observations reflect this condition. We show that bone heating induces a deformation of trabecular shape and strong changes in the trabecular network.…”

Section: Research Communicationmentioning

confidence: 60%

A Look from the Inside: MicroCT Analysis of Burned Bones

Boschin

Zanolli

Bernardini

et al. 2015

EBL

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MicroCT imaging is increasingly used in paleoanthropological and zooarchaeological research to analyse the internal microstructure of bone, replacing comparatively invasive and destructive methods. Consequently the analytical potential of this relatively new 3D imaging technology can be enhanced by developing discipline specific protocols for archaeological analysis. Here we examine how the microstructure of mammal bone changes after burning and explore if X-ray computed microtomography (microCT) can be used to obtain reliable information from burned specimens. We subjected domestic pig, roe deer, and red fox bones to burning at different temperatures and for different periods using an oven and an open fire. We observed significant changes in the three-dimensional microstructure of trabecular bone, suggesting that biomechanical studies or other analyses (for instance, determination of age-at-death) can be compromised by burning. In addition, bone subjected to very high temperatures (600°C or more) became cracked, posing challenges for quantifying characteristics of bone microstructure. Specimens burned at 600°C or greater temperatures, exhibit a characteristic criss-cross cracking pattern concentrated in the cortical region of the epiphyses. This feature, which can be readily observed on the surface of whole bone, could help the identification of heavily burned specimens that are small fragments, where color and surface texture are altered by diagenesis or weathering.

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Distinguishing Remains of Human Cremations from Burned Animal Bones

Cited by 55 publications

References 18 publications

Rather yield than break: assessing the influence of human bone collagen content on heat-induced warping through vibrational spectroscopy

Rather yield than break: assessing the influence of human bone collagen content on heat-induced warping through vibrational spectroscopy

The forensic evaluation of burned skeletal remains: A synthesis

A Look from the Inside: MicroCT Analysis of Burned Bones

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