Burning Colorsa presentation on cremated
remains
By: Marcelle LaCroixSession 6 Presentation
25 August 2012
Archaeological Interest
Determining if bone has come into contact with fire
Estimating the maximum temperature of the fire
Using changes in color and fracture patterns to estimate the condition of bone
Determing the degree to alteration by burning
cremation of bones
dehydrationrecrystallization
influencing variables Oxygen
availability Duration
of cremation Materials
used
temperature influenceStage Temperature
RangeColor
1 < 285°C Neutral white, pale yellow, yellow
2 285 - 525° C Reddish brown, very dark grey-brown, neutral dark grey, reddish-yellow
3 525 – 645°C Neutral black with some blue and reddish-yellow
4 645-940°C Neutral white with light blue-grey and light grey
5 940+ °C Neutral white with some medium grey amd reddish-yellow
Interpretation of Color Changes
Color Interpretation References
Brown Hemoglobin and/or soil discoloration
Gejvall 1969; Lisowski 1968
Black Carbonized bone due to burning in oxygen starved context
Herrmann 1970
Gray-blue, gray white Pyrolizaed organic components; calcination; complete loss of organic portion and fusion of bone salts
Dokládal 1969, 1970; Mayne Correia 1997
Other colors: green, yellow, pink and red
Burning in the presence of metals including copper, bronze or iron
Dunlop 1978; Gejvall 1969; Lisowski 1968
Taliotic Burial Practices
Cremation at Northern Coast Cave
using different materials copper = pink color iron = green color zinc = yellow color bronze = blue/green
color
Works Cited Buikstra JE and Swegle M. Bone modification due to burning: experimental evidence.
In Bone Modification, ed. R Bonnichsen and MH Sorg, 247-258. Peopling of the Americas Publications.
Dokládal, M. 1969. Über die heutigen möglichkeiten der personenidentifikation auf grundvon verbrannten knochen. In: Aktuelle kriminologie. Hamburg: Kriminolog Verlag, p.223-246.
Dokládal M 1970. Ergebnisse experimenteller verbrennungen zur feststellung von formund grössenveränderungen von menschenknochen unter fem einfluss von hohen temperaturnen. Anthropologie 8:3-17.
Dunlop J. 1978. Traffic light discoloration in cremated bone. Meidcine, Science and the Law 18:163-173.
Gejvall, N.-G. 1969. Cremations. In: Brothwell, D., and E. Higgs, editors. Science in Archaeology.London: Thames and Hudson, p. 468–479.
Herrmann, B. 1970. Anthroplogische bearbeitung der Leichenbräden von Berlin-Rudow.Ausgrabungen in Berlin 1:61–71.
Pijoan CM, Mansilla J, Leboreiro I. 2007. Thermal alterations in archaeological bones. Archaeometry 49: 713-727.
Stiner MC, Kuhn SL. 1995. Differential burning, recrystallization, and fragmentation of archaaological bone. Journal of Archaeological Science: 22: 223-237.