The Analysis of Burned Human Remains
- 1st Edition - March 10, 2008
- Editors: Christopher W. Schmidt, Steven A. Symes
- Language: English
This unique reference provides a primary source for osteologists and the medical/legal community for the understanding of burned bone remains in forensic or archaeological… Read more
This unique reference provides a primary source for osteologists and the medical/legal community for the understanding of burned bone remains in forensic or archaeological contexts. It describes in detail the changes in human bone and soft tissues as a body burns at both the chemical and gross levels and provides an overview of the current procedures in burned bone study. Case studies in forensic and archaeological settings aid those interested in the analysis of burned human bodies, from death scene investigators, to biological anthropologists looking at the recent or ancient dead.
- Includes the diagnostic patterning of color changes that give insight to the severity of burning, the positioning of the body, and presence (or absence) of soft tissues during the burning event
- Chapters on bones and teeth give step-by-step recommendations for how to study and recognize burned hard tissues
Researchers in bone biology, forensic anthropology, and endocrinology
List of Contributors
Preface
Chapter 1 Fire and Bodies
Chapter 2 Patterned Thermal Destruction of Human Remains in a Forensic Setting
Chapter 3 The Recovery and Study Of Burned Human Teeth
Chapter 4 Analysis of Human Cremains: Gross and Chemical Methods
Chapter 5 Thermally Induced Changes in the Stable Carbon and Nitrogen Isotope Ratios of Charred Bones
Chapter 6 Bone Color as an Interpretive Tool of the Depositional History of Archaeological Cremains
Chapter 7 Time, Temperature, and Oxygen Availability: An Experimental Study of the Effects of Environmental Conditions on the Color and Organic Content of Cremated Bone
Chapter 8 Heat-Related Changes in Tooth Color: Temperature Versus Duration of Exposure
Chapter 9 Investigations on Pre-Roman and Roman cremation Remains from Southwestern Germany: Results, Potentialities and Limits
Chapter 10 In the Heat of the Pyre: Efficiency of Oxidation in Romano-British Cremations – Did it Really Matter?
Chapter 11 Fire as a Cultural Taphonomic Agent: Understanding Mortuary Behavior at Khuzhir-Nuge XIV, Siberia
Chapter 12 Putting Together the Pieces: Reconstructing Mortuary Practices from Commingled Ossuary Cremains
Chapter 13 A Taphonomic Analysis of Human Cremains from the Fox Hollow farm Serial Homicide Site
Chapter 14 Early Archaic Cremations from Southern Indiana
Chapter 15 Towards an Archaeology of Cremation
Index
- Edition: 1
- Published: March 10, 2008
- Language: English
CS
Christopher W. Schmidt
Affiliations and expertise
University of Indianapolis, Department of Anthropology, IN, USASS
Steven A. Symes
A U.S. forensic anthropologist best known for his expertise in interpreting trauma to bone and a leading authority on saw and knife mark analysis. With 30 years of experience, he has assisted federal, state, local, and international authorities in the identification and analysis of human remains. A sought-after consultant in criminal cases, Dr. Symes has been qualified as an expert for both the prosecution and defense, testifying specifically on forensic tool mark and fracture pattern interpretation in bone, as well as blunt force, ballistic, burned and healing trauma in bone. Certified by the American Board of Forensic Anthropology and recently retired from the Board of Directors, Dr. Symes has lectured, consulted or testified on trauma cases, among them high-profile human rights cases, in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Peru, El Salvador, Indonesia, Kosovo, South Africa and Europe. In addition, he has authored more than 50 publications and delivered over 100 papers, lectures and workshops on a variety of forensic anthropology topics. He is co-editor of The Analysis of Burned Human Remains, Second Edition published by Elsevier / Academic Press.
Affiliations and expertise
Mercyhurst College, Department of Anthropology, Erie, PA, USARead The Analysis of Burned Human Remains on ScienceDirect