Scanning the silence

This bachelor’s thesis provides an overview of a bio- and digital-archaeological study that applies innovative methods for analysing Iron Age cremation burials from the Haps-Laarakker site in the Netherlands. The central research aims to overcome the limitations of traditional, invasive excavation by employing a customized combined digital workflow. Making use of medical Computed Tomography (CT) scanning and creating high-resolution 3D reconstruction using open-source software: 3D Slicer. The work emphasizes data validation to ensure the reliability of the experimental technique, which transforms unclear soil blocks into three-dimensional visualizations of the cremated remains. Key findings, such as the intentional anatomical ordering of bones in one cremation (6436) and evidence of perishable organic containers, demonstrate that the non-destructive approach successfully reveals nuanced ritual complexity and spatial relationships otherwise undiscovered.