Thermogravimetric analysis of property changes and weight loss in incinerated bone

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

“…A third hypothesis to explain heterogeneity in burned bones is that anomalous values may have been related with differential heating exposure of bone, which in turn leads to intrabone different chemical compositions (Grupe & Hummel, ; Lebon et al, ; Ellingham, Thompson, & Islam, ; Ellingham, Thompson, Islam, & Taylor, ; Chen et al, ). In fact, bones are not uniformly exposed to heat even in experimentally controlled burnings such as the ones used in the present study.…”

“…One of the main problems of FTIR‐ATR studies such as the present one is that infrared spectra cannot be monitored along with temperature increment, for the same sample (e.g., as in the thermogravimetric analysis paper by Ellingham, Thompson, & Islam, ). Infrared analyses and comparisons are forcibly based on distinct samples subjected to different maximum temperatures and the impact of intersample variation on the results is therefore difficult to predict.…”

Scanning Electron Microscopy–Energy‐Dispersive X‐Ray (SEM/EDX): A Rapid Diagnostic Tool to Aid the Identification of Burnt Bone and Contested Cremains

“…The sulfur in the bone can be found within some of the bone's amino acids, which make up the collagen (36). It is therefore not surprising that none was able to be detected in defleshed samples beyond 500°C and fleshed samples beyond 600°C; The majority of the bone's collagen combusts at these temperature ranges during what is known as the "decomposition" stage, characterized by the combustion of organic components and formation of a new mineral phase (15,37). Any detectable levels of chlorine completely disappear at temperatures beyond 800°C (900°C in fleshed bones), which coincides with the melting point of sodium chloride (NaCl).…”

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.…”