Thermal Alteration to the Body

This chapter explores the myriad ways in which heating and burning alters the human body, how these alterations influence our ability to successfully analyse the remains, and possible future directions for research and practice. It discusses specific terms used in relation to burned remains, but the key point is that while many terms are used interchangeably, they do have specific meanings. Thus ‘burned remains’ refers to remains that have been exposed to fire, ‘cremated remains’ refer to bodies that have been burned as part of a funerary process, and ‘calcined remains’ refer to those that have undergone alterations including calcination. The changes to the hard tissues arguably have a greater impact on our ability to determine the identity of the deceased and the manner and context of death. In summary, the use of quantifiable, digitised techniques for soil colour analysis of burnt hard tissues holds further promise for the interpretation of burn conditions and variation.

Thompson, T. J.U. Gonçalves, D. Squires, K. Ulguim, P. F. 2017. Thermal Alteration to the Body. In Schotsmans, E. M. J. Márquez‐Grant, N. Forbes, S. L. (eds.). Taphonomy of Human Remains: Forensic Analysis of the Dead and the Depositional Environment. Chichester, UK: John Wiley & Sons. pp. 318–34. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118953358.ch21