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The Analysis of Burned Human Remains

2nd Edition - June 1, 2015

Editors: Christopher W. Schmidt, Steven A. Symes

Hardback ISBN:

9 7 8 - 0 - 1 2 - 8 0 0 4 5 1 - 7

eBook ISBN:

9 7 8 - 0 - 1 2 - 8 0 0 5 2 1 - 7

The Analysis of Burned Human Remains, Second Edition, provides a primary source for osteologists and the medical/legal community for the understanding of burned bone remains in… Read more

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The Analysis of Burned Human Remains, Second Edition, 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.

List of Contributors
Preface
Chapter 1. Fire and Bodies
- A Fire Primer
- Room Fires
- Effects
- Case Studies
- Conclusions
- References
Chapter 2. Patterned Thermal Destruction in a Forensic Setting
- Introduction to Burned Bone Research
- Research Approaches: Same Problem, Different Perspectives
- Forensic Practice and Perspective
- Forensic Implications: Problems and Goals
- Summary
- Acknowledgements
- References
Chapter 3. Burned Human Teeth
- Introduction
- Purpose and Caveats
- Field Recovery
- Field Procedures
- Laboratory Procedures
- Thermally Induced Changes in Colour, Texture and Size
- Enamel
- Roots
- Microscopy
- Dental Restorations and Orthodontics
- Materials and Devices
- Thermal Properties
- Case Study: Baumeister Homicides
- Conclusion
- Acknowledgements
- References
Chapter 4. Analysis of Human Cremains
- Introduction
- Cremation Process
- Methods Used to Analyse Cremains
- Chemical Methods
- Forensic Case Study Using ICP-MS
- Conclusions
- Acknowledgements
- References
Chapter 5. Thermally Induced Changes
- Introduction
- Bone Charring and Its Effect on the Isotopic Composition of Bone Organic Material
- Controlled Heating Experiments to Evaluate Isotopic Changes in Charred Bones
- Evaluating Prehistoric Cremations
- Results
- Discussion
- Conclusions
- Acknowledgements
- References
Chapter 6. Bone Colour
- Introduction
- Burned Bone Research
- Bone Colour
- Colour Models
- Walker-Noe 15GD56
- Walker-Noe 15GD56 Cremains
- Results
- Discussion
- Conclusion
- Acknowledgements
- References
Chapter 7. Heat-Related Changes in Tooth Color
- Introduction
- Materials and Method
- Results
- Discussion
- Conclusion
- Acknowledgements
- References
Chapter 8. Herculaneum
- Background
- Objective
- Materials
- Methods
- Results
- Fractures
- Taphonomy
- Maximum Temperature and Tissue Shielding
- Conclusion
- Acknowledgements
- References
Chapter 9. Investigations on Pre-Roman and Roman Cremation Remains
- Introduction
- Skeletal Remains
- Methodological Aspects
- Anthropological Investigation
- Concluding Remarks
- Acknowledgements
- References
Chapter 10. In the Heat of the Pyre
- Introduction
- The Cremation Process
- Cremation in Roman Britain
- Variations in Oxidation
- Conclusions
- Acknowledgement
- References
Chapter 11. Fire as a Cultural Taphonomic Agent
- Introduction
- Methods
- Results
- Conclusion
- References
Chapter 12. Putting Together the Pieces: Reconstructing Mortuary Practices from Commingled Ossuary Cremains
- Introduction
- Background
- Methods of Analysis
- Results
- Mortuary Behaviour Reconstructed
- References
Chapter 13. A Taphonomic Analysis of Human Cremains from the Fox Hollow Farm Serial Homicide Site
- Introduction
- The Study Sample
- Scoring Methods
- Results
- Summary and Conclusions
- Acknowledgements
- References
Chapter 14. Early Archaic Cremations from Southern Indiana
- Introduction
- Osteology
- Mortuary Treatment
- Discussion
- Conclusion
- References
Chapter 15. Towards an Archaeology of Cremation
- Introduction
- The Perception of Cremation
- Themes in the Archaeology of Cremation
- Theoretical Approaches for the Archaeology of Cremation
- Case Study: A Late Iron-Age Cremation Cemetery Near Westhampnett, Sussex
- Conclusion
- Acknowledgements
- References
Chapter 16. An 11,500-Year-Old Human Cremation from Eastern Beringia (Central Alaska)
- Introduction
- Findings
- Discussion
- Acknowledgements
- References
Chapter 17. Italian Iron Age Cremations
- Introduction
- Materials and Methods
- Results and Discussion
- Conclusions
- Acknowledgements
- References
Chapter 18. The Analysis of Heat-Induced Crystallinity Change in Bone
- Introduction
- Heat-Induced Changes in Bone Crystallinity
- Methods of Measuring Heat-Induced Crystallinity Change
- Interpreting Heat-Induced Crystallinity Changes
- Conclusions
- Acknowledgements
- References
Chapter 19. Death and Community Identity in the Trincheras Cremation Cemetery, Sonora, Mexico
- Introduction
- The Urn-Field Cremation Cemetery
- Analysis
- Cremation as a Funerary Custom
- Cremation and the Cerro De Trincheras
- Death and the Landscape
- Conclusions
- Acknowledgements
- References
Chapter 20. Formation Times in Thermally Altered Enamel
- Introduction
- Aim
- Materials and Methods
- Results
- Discussion
- Conclusion
- Acknowledgements
- References
Chapter 21. Influence of Heating Regimes on Dimensional and Colorimetric Changes of Teeth
- Introduction
- Material and Methods
- Results
- Discussion
- Conclusion
- Acknowledgements
- References
Chapter 22. The Use of Ethnographic Information in Cremation Studies: A Southeast Asian Example
- Introduction
- An Overview of Ethnoarchaeology
- How Can We Apply Historically Informed Ethnoarchaeology to the Bioarchaeological Determination of Funeral Practices?
- Case Study: Lan Xang Cremations in Vientiane, Laos
- How Does the Evidence from the Archaeological Remains of Lan Xang Cremations Correlate with the Ethnographic and Historic Records?
- Can We Call This Approach Ethnobioarchaeology?
- Conclusion
- Acknowledgements
- References
Chapter 23. Bone Color Changes in a Burned Burial Structure from Early Bronze Age Bab adh-Dhra’, Jordan
- Background
- Materials and Methods
- Results
- Discussion
- Acknowledgements
- References
Index