The cremation of infants/small children: An archaeological experiment concerning the effects of fire on bone weight

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The graves and especially the cremation graves of infants and small children (aged less than one year old) make up a relatively sparse category in the Danish archaeological records as well as in other areas. The reason for this startling under-representation has been debated for some time, but for some reason experimental studies of the cremation of infants and small children is as sparse in literature as the evidence for infant cremation graves. Even in non-archaeological literature (ie forensic and medico-legal literature), the cremation of infants is a rare subject of debate. Here we propose an experiment designed to show whether or not the bones of infants and small children (using domesticated pigs as substitutes for humans) can withstand the thermic stress they would have been exposed to in a simplistic reconstruction of a prehistoric funerary pyre. The results are measured in the post-cremation skeletal weight of the cremains and the data is then compared to our knowledge of modern-day commercial cremations of infants and small children. Our results show firstly, that the bones can indeed withstand a simplistic cremation process and secondly, that the post-cremation skeletal weight matches our knowledge of modern commercial cremations.
Original languageEnglish
JournalGrupo de Estudos em Evoluçao Humana
Volume2
Issue number2
Publication statusPublished - 2013

ID: 325021796