Strontium isotope analyses of archaeological cremated remains – new data and perspectives

Christophe Snoeck; Christina Cheung; Jacob Griffith; Hannah James; Kevin Salesse

doi:10.1016/j.dib.2022.108115

Strontium isotope analyses of archaeological cremated remains – new data and perspectives

Christophe Snoeck, Christina Cheung, Jacob Griffith, Hannah James, Kevin Salesse

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

8 Citations (Scopus)

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Abstract

Cremated human remains are commonly found in the archaeological records, especially in Europe during the Metal Ages and the Roman period. Due to the high temperatures reached during cremation (up to 1000°C), most biological information locked in the isotopic composition of different tissues is heavily altered or even destroyed. The recent demonstration that strontium isotope ratio (87Sr/86Sr) remained unaltered during cremation and was even very resistant to post-burial alterations (which is not the case of unburned bone), opened new possibility for palaeomobility studies of ancient populations that practices cremations as a funerary ritual. This paper summarizes the strontium isotopic data produced over the last decade which is then deposited on the open-access platform IsoArcH (https://isoarch.eu/) for any interested parties to use. It is the first time isotopic data on cremated remains is introduced in this database, significantly extending its impact on the scientific community.

Original language	English
Article number	108115
Pages (from-to)	1-8
Number of pages	8
Journal	Data in Brief
Volume	42
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dib.2022.108115
Publication status	Published - Jun 2022

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This research is supported by the ERC Starting Grant LUMIERE (Landscape Use and Mobility In EuRope – Bridging the gap between cremation and inhumation), funded by European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement number 948913, and the CRUMBEL project (CRemations, Urns and Mobility: ancient population dynamics in BELgium), funded by Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek – Vlaanderen (FWO) and the Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique (F.R.S.-FNRS) within the framework of the Excellence of Science (EoS) program in Belgium (30999782).

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022

Copyright:
Copyright 2022 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.

Keywords

bioarchaeology
Strontium
strontium isotope
Cremated remains
Cremated bone
Archaeology

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83357579Final published version, 752 KBLicence: CC BY-NC-ND

Cite this

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title = "Strontium isotope analyses of archaeological cremated remains – new data and perspectives",

abstract = "Cremated human remains are commonly found in the archaeological records, especially in Europe during the Metal Ages and the Roman period. Due to the high temperatures reached during cremation (up to 1000°C), most biological information locked in the isotopic composition of different tissues is heavily altered or even destroyed. The recent demonstration that strontium isotope ratio (87Sr/86Sr) remained unaltered during cremation and was even very resistant to post-burial alterations (which is not the case of unburned bone), opened new possibility for palaeomobility studies of ancient populations that practices cremations as a funerary ritual. This paper summarizes the strontium isotopic data produced over the last decade which is then deposited on the open-access platform IsoArcH (https://isoarch.eu/) for any interested parties to use. It is the first time isotopic data on cremated remains is introduced in this database, significantly extending its impact on the scientific community.",

keywords = "bioarchaeology, Strontium, strontium isotope, Cremated remains, Cremated bone, Archaeology",

author = "Christophe Snoeck and Christina Cheung and Jacob Griffith and Hannah James and Kevin Salesse",

note = "Funding Information: This research is supported by the ERC Starting Grant LUMIERE (Landscape Use and Mobility In EuRope – Bridging the gap between cremation and inhumation), funded by European Union's Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement number 948913, and the CRUMBEL project (CRemations, Urns and Mobility: ancient population dynamics in BELgium), funded by Fonds Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek – Vlaanderen (FWO) and the Fonds de la Recherche Scientifique (F.R.S.-FNRS) within the framework of the Excellence of Science (EoS) program in Belgium (30999782). Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2022 Copyright: Copyright 2022 Elsevier B.V., All rights reserved.",

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N2 - Cremated human remains are commonly found in the archaeological records, especially in Europe during the Metal Ages and the Roman period. Due to the high temperatures reached during cremation (up to 1000°C), most biological information locked in the isotopic composition of different tissues is heavily altered or even destroyed. The recent demonstration that strontium isotope ratio (87Sr/86Sr) remained unaltered during cremation and was even very resistant to post-burial alterations (which is not the case of unburned bone), opened new possibility for palaeomobility studies of ancient populations that practices cremations as a funerary ritual. This paper summarizes the strontium isotopic data produced over the last decade which is then deposited on the open-access platform IsoArcH (https://isoarch.eu/) for any interested parties to use. It is the first time isotopic data on cremated remains is introduced in this database, significantly extending its impact on the scientific community.

AB - Cremated human remains are commonly found in the archaeological records, especially in Europe during the Metal Ages and the Roman period. Due to the high temperatures reached during cremation (up to 1000°C), most biological information locked in the isotopic composition of different tissues is heavily altered or even destroyed. The recent demonstration that strontium isotope ratio (87Sr/86Sr) remained unaltered during cremation and was even very resistant to post-burial alterations (which is not the case of unburned bone), opened new possibility for palaeomobility studies of ancient populations that practices cremations as a funerary ritual. This paper summarizes the strontium isotopic data produced over the last decade which is then deposited on the open-access platform IsoArcH (https://isoarch.eu/) for any interested parties to use. It is the first time isotopic data on cremated remains is introduced in this database, significantly extending its impact on the scientific community.

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Strontium isotope analyses of archaeological cremated remains – new data and perspectives

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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EU632: Landscape Use and Mobility In EuRopE - Bridging the gap between cremation and inhumation