The role of the Computerized Tomography versus laboratory micro-excavation in the study of ancient cineraria. Ancillary or complementary?

Abstract

Cremation is one of the most common treatments of a dead body in the prehistoric and ancient historic societies and it represents a challenge for physical anthropologists. The cinerary urn is a complex artifact that is the result of a series of funerary rites that includes the cremation ceremony, the selection of cremated remains, their position in the urn and the presence of funerary goods. Currently micro-excavation is considered a very precise method in the study of ancient cineraria. However, the Multi-Detector Computerized Tomography (MDCT) analysis allows a non-destructive archaeological and anthropological assessment of the urn. This technique appears to be, in a certain way, very similar to the traditional laboratory procedures of micro-excavation. This procedure allows for the possibility of a morphological study of the urn and of the funerary goods. The internal stratigraphy, the consistency of the ossilegium, the spatial arrangement of the cremated bone fragments, the metric and the morphological study of the bone fragments, and the paleopathological aspects can also be analyzed. Hereby we present our methodological experience with MDCT on several urns of different age, culture and geographical origin, comparing the MDCT data with the micro-excavation results.