Search results for "human remains"
showing 4 items of 4 documents
Archaeology, chronology, and age-diet insights of two late fourth millennium cal BC pit graves from central southern Iberia (Córdoba, Spain)
2020
This study presents the isotopic ratios, radiocarbon datings, and anthropological analyses of five (N = 5) Early Copper Age individuals from two archaeological sites (Arruzafa and Iglesia Antigua de Alcolea) of the Middle Guadalquivir Valley near the city of Córdoba (Spain). Four had been buried in the same grave, possibly in a single event or in a very short time lapse. The collagen residue analyses of the individuals offer δC values ranging between −20.08 and −18.4 and δN values between 8.57 and 11.15. The findings indicate that the infant and the elderly had, respectively, the richest and poorest animal protein diets, the first likely as a result of nursing. The combined study of these f…
A multidisciplinary approach to Neolithic dietary reconstruction: the case of “le Vigneau” site (ca. 4400 BC; Indre-et-Loire, France)
2016
International audience
Bone diagenesis of archaeological human remains from Apulia (Italy) investigated by ATR-FTIR and XRF spectroscopy
2023
The analysis of the organic and mineral content of biological samples allows to define post-mortem alterations and the preservation status of ancient human remains. Here, we report a physical-chemical characterization of bone specimens from some skeletal remains found in Apulia (Italy) dating back to the prehistoric, classic-hellenistic, and medieval periods. Specific infrared band ratios from Attenuated Total Reflectance-Fourier Transform InfraRed and X-ray fluorescence spectroscopies were considered to evaluate the extent of the diagenetic process and the elemental composition of bone.Physical-chemical post-mortem transformations were related to the soil composition and specificity of tis…
“I Like to Keep my Archaeology Dead”. Alienation and Othering of the Past as an Ethical Problem
2019
As archaeologists, we have to deal with the dead, and as David Clarke once said, we like to keep our archaeology dead. From an epistemological perspective, alienation from the dead seems almost inevitable; otherwise, we would only project today’s conditions onto the past. Therefore, the past must be, and must remain, a foreign country. These alienating processes have ethical implications, however, especially when it comes to the study of human remains. In this article, we analyze the structures within the scientific discipline of archaeology that normalize practices, such as the labeling of human bone material during excavations and the object-like display of skeletons in museums. We argue …