Computed Tomography and Computed Radiography of late Bronze Age Cremation Urns from Denmark: An interdisciplinary attempt to develop methods applied in Bioarchaeological cremation research

Lise Lock Harvig; Niels Lynnerup; Jannie Amsgaard Ebsen

doi:10.1111/j.1475-4754.2011.00629.x

Computed Tomography and Computed Radiography of late Bronze Age Cremation Urns from Denmark: An interdisciplinary attempt to develop methods applied in Bioarchaeological cremation research

Lise Lock Harvig, Niels Lynnerup, Jannie Amsgaard Ebsen

Unit of Forensic Anthropology

23 Citations (Scopus)

6244 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

To improve the methods used to study prehistoric cremation rituals, cremation urns from the Danish Late Bronze Age were examined using computed tomography and computed radiography (digital X-ray). During micro-excavation, the digital images were used as a registration tool. Our results suggest that osteological ageing and sexing are more accurate when combining CT images with excavated remains. Digital volume rendering further enables a compromised estimation of the original cremation weight. Micro-excavation is clearly a primary cause of bone fragmentation. Cremated remains affected by lower cremation intensity show markedly poorer preservation and recovery than do white calcined fragments. Thus post-excavation estimations of cremation intensity are systematically biased.

Original language	English
Journal	Archaeometry
Volume	54
Issue number	2
Pages (from-to)	369-387
Number of pages	19
ISSN	0003-813X
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-4754.2011.00629.x
Publication status	Published - Apr 2012

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Harvig archaeometry 2012Final published version, 1.23 MB

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Computed Tomography and Computed Radiography of late Bronze Age Cremation Urns from Denmark : An interdisciplinary attempt to develop methods applied in Bioarchaeological cremation research. / Harvig, Lise Lock; Lynnerup, Niels; Amsgaard Ebsen, Jannie.

In: Archaeometry, Vol. 54, No. 2, 04.2012, p. 369-387.

Research output: Contribution to journal › Journal article › Research › peer-review

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abstract = "To improve the methods used to study prehistoric cremation rituals, cremation urns from the Danish Late Bronze Age were examined using computed tomography and computed radiography (digital X-ray). During micro-excavation, the digital images were used as a registration tool. Our results suggest that osteological ageing and sexing are more accurate when combining CT images with excavated remains. Digital volume rendering further enables a compromised estimation of the original cremation weight. Micro-excavation is clearly a primary cause of bone fragmentation. Cremated remains affected by lower cremation intensity show markedly poorer preservation and recovery than do white calcined fragments. Thus post-excavation estimations of cremation intensity are systematically biased.",

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Computed Tomography and Computed Radiography of late Bronze Age Cremation Urns from Denmark: An interdisciplinary attempt to develop methods applied in Bioarchaeological cremation research

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