The Analysis of Burned Human Remains is a definitive reference for osteologists and the medico-legal community charged with analyzing burned human remains from forensic and archaeological contexts. Edited by two of the nation's foremost anthropological authorities on burned remains, the book provides critical information on the transformation in human bone, teeth, and soft tissue as a body burns and, through case studies, details the complex technical aspects of those changes at both the chemical and gross levels.
The book begins by taking the reader through the chemical and morphological changes a body undergoes through cremation. Taking into account the diagnostic patterning of color changes and fracture production in bone, body positioning, and the presence or absence of soft tissue during the burning event, the authors ponder social perspectives revived by these clues. The ensuing chapters cover the techniques that anthropological investigators use to analyze burned bone and provide practical recommendations for best practices in gleaning crucial information from the burned remains of both the recent and ancient dead, from the New World to Siberia.
