Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Burnt bones'

Distinguishing between burnt human and non-human bone fragments using macroscopic methods has proved challenging and it was seen in the literature review that the previous research did not all come to the same conclusions. The aim of the research was to determine if, using histological methods, it was possible to distinguish between burned human and nonhuman bone fragments. A literature review was compiled to provide an overview of the anatomy of bones, morphological characteristics of bone, general bone histology, a comparison between human and non-human bones and the effect of temperature on bones. Bones of five different species (human, baboon, wildebeest, pig and cow) were burned in a muffle furnace for twenty minutes at either 600ᵒC or 800ᵒC. Following the burning procedure, thin ground bone sections of the burned and unburned bone specimens were prepared for microscopic analysis and the minimum canal diameter, maximum canal diameter, minimum Haversian system diameter, maximum Haversian system diameter, area of canal, and area of the Haversian system were measured. A comparative analysis was then done across species and temperature. A total of 523 osteons in unburned bone and 147 in the burned bone samples were analysed. ANOVA testing found overall significance (p < 0.0001) for all parameters measured, which suggests that temperature does affect the size of microstructures. Most parameter sizes increased with an increase in temperature. A greater increase was seen at 600 degrees than 800 degrees. Qualitatively, carbonation within the burned bone, made the measurement of parameters difficult in some samples. Human bone can easily be differentiated from pig, cow or wildebeest bone due to no or very few osteons present. Pig bone consisted almost entirely of plexiform bone, while the cow and wildebeest presented with only a few osteons in some parts of the bone. Human and baboon bone appeared similar on a microscopic level. The study revealed that temperature did not, in general, hamper the ability to differentiate between burned human and non-human bone, but it did impact on the number of measurable data points for each parameter.

This paper uses an osteological approach and applies the study of entanglement in an attempt to understand the crematoria on Rapa Nui (Easter Island), which represent a unique tradition within the ceremonial spheres of the Polynesian area. Skeletal remains from the crematorium of ahu Hanga Hahave, which consist of both cremated - and unburned remains, have been analysed to reveal the different practices that took part in the cremation process and to identify the individuals that were deposited in such structure. Ethnohistorical records were applied to interpret the osteological evidence and to discuss the circumstances surrounding the possible use of the crematorium, as either a site for sacrificial offerings or a site for burials.  This paper aims at creating an underlying basis for the study of crematoria on Rapa Nui and provides an overview of the processes central to the disposal of the dead and the usage and significance of this structure. The results of this study showed that the ancient Rapanui through the practice of cremation, followed an internalised structure within their society to complete each cultural act that constituted the crematorium, and these were divided in the construction of the crematorium, the making of fire, and the treatment of the dead. The complexity of each cultural act presents the possibility that an organised society, with at least one designated head, may have been in charge of the practice of cremation physically and spiritually. The skeletal remains could not be applied to determine whether the crematorium of Hanga Hahave was used for sacrificial offering or for burial since the analysed remains only represented one-fifth of the entire bone collection from the crematorium. However, the findings of this study have pointed towards a burial practice rather than a sacrificial one.
Denna uppsats använder ett osteologiskt tillvägagångssätt och Hodders’’entanglement’ studie i tolkningen av krematorierna på Rapa Nui (Påskön), som representerar en unik tradition inom Polynesien. Skelettmaterialet från krematoriet i ahu Hanga Hahave har analyserats för att upptäcka de olika metoder som deltog i kremeringsprocessen och identifiera vilka individer som deponerades här. Etnohistoriska källor användes också i tolkningen av det osteologiska materialet och för att behandla frågorna kring krematoriernas användning: antigen som en plats för offring eller en plats för begravning. Syftet är att skapa en underliggande grund för studiet av krematorierna på Rapa Nui för att ge en överblick på de centrala processerna. Resultatet visade att den forntida Rapanui följde en internaliserad struktur inom sitt samhälle för att slutföra varje kulturell handling som utgjorde kremerings praktik och var uppdelade i konstruktionen av krematoriet, bruken av eld och hantering av de döda. Komplexiteten hos varje handling möjliggör att ett organiserat samhälle, där minst en ledare har varit ansvarig i fysisk eller andlig form. Skelettmaterialet från krematoriet i ahu Hanga Hahave kunde inte användas för att bestämma krematoriets användning eftersom det analyserade materialet endast representerade en femtedel av den totala bensamlingen, dock pekar studiet på en begravningsritual snarare än en offer.

Cette étude a pour sujet le traitement des défunts au IIe millénaire avant J –C (Helladique Moyen et Helladique Récent) en Attique et en Argolide , afin d’établir la répartition des modes de traitement des défunts et des gestes funéraires. Ainsi, en utilisant la méthode de l’archéothanatologie, nous avons observé la position originelle des défunts, étudié la récurrence et la divergence de certains gestes funéraires. Nous avons tenté d’aborder les questions liées aux traditions propres à chacune des deux régions ; mais aussi de distinguer les différentes modalités d’adoption, partielle ou totale ainsi que les modalités de transfert des coutumes funéraires et leur évolution dans le temps. Pour mener à bien ce travail, nous avons analysé les données issues des publications et des rapports de fouilles et les photographies montrant l’intérieur de vingt-quatre tombes avec quarante-six squelettes en place. Ainsi, nous avons pu identifier les différentes faces d’apparition des diverses pièces osseuses : cela nous a permis de découvrir la présence jusqu’à la insoupçonnée, pour certains site, de contenants périssables et parfois de modifier la disposition des défunts déjà établie dans de nombreuses publications. Enfin, en parallèle, nous avons étudié, dans les musées grecs et suédois, les collections d’ossements des sites d’Asinè et de l’Ancienne Agora d’Athènes dans le but d’y découvrir des modifications osseuses d’origine anthropique volontaire ; mais nous n’avons identifié que des os sans modifications volontaires et brûlés
This study investigates the treatment of the deceased during the 2nd millennium BC (Middle Helladic and Helladic Recent), in order to establish treatment distributions and funeral gestures. Thus, by using the "archeothanatological" method, we observed the original position of the deceased, studies the recurrence and the divergence of some funeral gestures. We have tried to identify regional traditions, but also to distinguish between different adoption modalities, partial or total transfers of funeral customs through time. To carry out this work, we analyzed data from publications and excavation reports and photographs showing the interior of twenty-four tombs with forty-six skeletons in situ. Thus, were able to identify the different faces of appearance of the various bon parts: this has allowed us to discover the presence until now unsuspected, for some sites, perishable containers: sometimes were proposed new positions of the deceased different of those already established in many publications. Finally, in parallel, we have studied in Greek and Swedish museum collections of bones of the sites of Assine I and II and of the ancient Agora of Athens in order to discover bone voluntary anthropogenic changes. We thus showed the absence of voluntar changes and burnt bones

Cette étude porte sur le «Skull Building» de Çayönü (Sud-Est anatolien, Néolithiqueprécéramique), qui est l’un des plus anciens bâtiments à usage funéraire au Proche-Orient. Les restes humains provenant des différents dépôts osseux (110.460fragments) du «Skull Building» ont été étudiés au travers d’une approche archéoantropologiqueet taphonomique qui n’avait encore jamais été appliquée à un sitepréhistorique anatolien. Nous avons mis au point un logiciel de dénombrement,estimé le nombre minimum d’individus inhumés lors de chacune des deux phasesd’utilisation (NMI = 97 pour le bâtiment ovalaire, NMI = 231 pour le bâtimentrectangulaire) et mis en évidence un changement des pratiques entre le bâtimentovalaire (le plus ancien) et le bâtiment rectangulaire (le plus récent). Les résultatsobtenus permettent de proposer une nouvelle interprétation du fonctionnement de cebâtiment, dans la mesure où les analyses ont montré que les différents dépôts de laseconde phase d’utilisation (bâtiment rectangulaire) étaient liés entre eux
This study focuses on the "Skull Building" of Çayönü (Southeast Anatolian PrepotteryNeolithic), which is one of the oldest buildings for burial use in the MiddleEast. Human remains from different bone deposits (110,460 fragments) of the "SkullBuilding" have been studied through an archaeo-anthropological and taphonomicapproach which had never been applied to a prehistoric site in Anatolia. We havedeveloped a software for counting, estimated the minimum number of individualsburied in each of the two phases of use (NMI = 97 for the Oval Building, NMI = 231for the Rectangular Building) and highlighted a change in practices between the ovalbuilding (the oldest) and the rectangular building (most recent). The results obtainedallow proposing a new interpretation for the functions of this building, insofar as theanalysis showed that different deposits of the second phase of use (RectangularBuilding) were interrelated

Ireland is not a country unfamiliar with trauma. It is an island widely known for its history with Vikings, famine, and as a colony of the English empire. Inevitably, then, these traumas surface in the literature from the nation. Much of the literature that was produced, especially after the decline in the Irish language after the Great Famine of the 1840s, focused on national identity. In the nineteenth century, there was a growing movement for Irish cultural identity, illustrated by authors John Millington Synge and William Butler Yeats; this movement was identified as the Gaelic Revival. Another movement in literature began in the nineteenth century and it reflected the social and political anxieties of the Anglo-Irish middle class in Ireland. This movement is the beginning of the Gothic genre in Irish literature. Dominated by authors such as Sheridan Le Fanu and Bram Stoker, Gothic novels used aspects of the sublime and the uncanny to express the fears and apprehensions that existed in Anglo-Irish identity in the nineteenth century. My goal in writing this thesis is to examine Gothic aspects of contemporary Irish fiction in order to address the anxieties of Irish identity after the Irish War of Independence that began in 1919 and the resulting division of Ireland into two countries. I will be examining Patrick McCabe's The Butcher Boy, Seamus Deane's Reading in the Dark, and Anna Burns' No Bones in order to evaluate their use of children amidst the trouble surrounding the formation of identity, both personal and national, in Northern Ireland. All three novels use gothic elements in order to produce an atmosphere of the uncanny (Freud); this effect is used to enlighten the theme of arrested development in national identity through the children protagonists, who are inescapably haunted by Ireland's repressed traumatic history.; Specifically, I will be focusing on the use of ghosts, violence, and hauntings to illuminate the social anxieties felt by Northern Ireland after the Irish War of Independence.
B.A.
Bachelors
Arts and Humanities
English

During the Late Bronze Age, the number of metal objects in the Baltic Sea region increased tremendously.  Mobility and interaction in this northern inland sea intensified. This occurred in a period of prehistory when the ship was the predominant symbol in southern Scandinavia. The ship can be found in rock carvings, on bronze objects and by way of erected stone monuments: stone ship settings. These stone ships are mainly to be found in the Baltic Sea region, with a marked concentration on Gotland. The stone ship settings and their landscape context are the focus of this dissertation. The objective is to clarify whether it is possible to find evidence of social groupings of people in the Nordic Late Bronze Age (1100-500 BC), by focusing on the stone ship monument, adopting a maritime approach. These people might have been part of a maritime institution specializing in trade and long distance journeys during this period, thus achieving a more advanced maritime way of life in the Baltic Sea. Are the ship settings an expression of these specific groups of people, who utilized their practices to position and articulate themselves in the landscape? If such maritime institutions can in fact be traced, there must also be uniformly structured locations for these groups of people to meet in, some kind of antecedents of harbours. By taking an inland sea, the Baltic Sea, as a geographical demarcation, a different perspective of prehistory is attained. The area in the Late Bronze Age and earliest Iron Age (950/900-200 BC) differed from the Nordic Bronze Age sphere. The communities around the Baltic Sea, through the establishment and sharing of mutual interests, seem to have reached a certain degree of consensus. This concordance might well be largely explained by the complex dependency on metal. Such a manifestation would not have been possible without an infrastructure or network, in this case a maritime one. This is something which has previously been overlooked in discussions on the Bronze Age in the Baltic Sea.

En région méditerranéen, les incendies de forêt sont un problème majeur vis-à-vis de la désertification du milieu. L'utilisation de composts est considérée comme une solution pour la régénération du sol et de la végétation.Tout d'abord, en laboratoire, les effets de trois types de compost et de leur mode d'application ont été testés : un compost de déchets verts (DV), un compost de boues de station d'épuration (B) et un compost d'ordures ménagères résiduelles (OMR). Les différents paramètres du sol ont été améliorés de façon plus importante par le compost OMR (le moins mature) alors que le compost DV (le plus mature) n'a que peu d'effet par rapport au contrôle. De plus, lorsque le compost est enfoui dans le sol, la réduction du ruissellement est faible alors qu'appliqué en surface, elle est importante et favorise la percolation et la rétention principalement avec le compost OMR. Lors d'une expérimentation in situ, l'évolution du sol et de la végétation a été étudiée après un apport de compost de boues de station d'épuration. Lors des premiers mois, une hausse de la biomasse des espèces herbacées a été observée. Bien qu'aucun effet n'ait été observé pour les autres espèces, la phytomasse était plus hétérogène sur les parcelles amendées alors que la biodiversité y était plus homogène. Un transfert rapide et durable d'éléments nutritifs du compost vers le sol a été observé ainsi qu'une hausse de la teneur en eau du sol des parcelles amendées. Les teneurs en nutriments des plantes augmentent aussi mais varient selon l'espèce et l'élément considérés. De plus, aucun effet négatif n'a été observé quant aux teneurs en éléments traces métalliques du sol et des végétaux
In Mediterranean region, forest fires are a major problem leading to the desertification of the environment. Use of composts is considered as a solution for soil and vegetation rehabilitation.First, we observed the effects of three urban composts and their mode of application (laid on the soil surface or mixed into the soil) on soil restoration after fire: a municipal waste compost (MWC), a compost of sewage sludge (SSC) and a green waste compost (GWC) under laboratory conditions. Input of composts increased organic matter and soil nutrient content, and enhanced carbon and nitrogen mineralisation and total microbial biomass throughout the incubations. MWC induced the highest improvement while GWC input had no significant effect compared to the control. Composts mixed with soil weakly limited runoff whereas composts laid at the soil surface significantly reduced runoff and increased percolation and retention, particularly with the MWC.Then, we studied in situ the effects of a SSC on soil and vegetation regeneration after fire. The first months after amendment, this input increased grass species biomass. Although no significant effect was observed on other studied plants, plant biomass was more heterogeneous on amended plots while plant biodiversity was more homogeneous. The use of compost increased rapidly soil nutrient content and soil water content but plant nutrition was improved more or less durably depending species. Compost effects on microbial activities were low and only sporadic. Moreover, no negative effect was observed during the two years of experimentation

Dissertação de Mestrado em Antropologia Forense apresentada à Faculdade de Ciências e Tecnologia
Este trabalho teve como objetivos avaliar a influência da queima experimental de esqueletos humanos, considerando a aplicabilidade dos métodos usados para estimar dois dos parâmetros do perfil biológico (o sexo e a idade à morte), e avaliar o seu impacto em alterações patológicas, nomeadamente em nódulos de Schmorl, doença do disco intervertebral e osteoartrose.Pretendeu-se também determinar o nível de concordância esperado entre observações pré- e pós-queima. Para isso, foram utilizados os 51 esqueletos queimados da Coleção de Esqueletos Identificados do Século XXI, alojada no Laboratório de Antropologia Forense, de Departamento de Ciências da Vida da Universidade de Coimbra (22 homens e 29 mulheres com idades à morte entre os 60 e 93 anos), e aplicados os seguintes métodos: i) no osso antes e após a queima em esqueletos propositadamente queimados de forma experimental para este estudo; ou, em alternativa, ii) no osso queimado e no seu antímero não-queimado em esqueletos experimentalmente queimados previamente a este estudo. Para comparação, foi utilizado o teste estatístico AC1 de Gwet e a concordância exata.Para a estimativa do sexo foram utilizados métodos morfológicos e métricos: as recomendações de Buikstra e Ubelaker (1994), com base no osso coxal; Bruzek (2002), aplicado ao coxal; Curate e colaboradores (2016), aplicado ao fémur; Wasterlain (2000) e Gonçalves e colegas (2013), aplicados ao úmero, fémur, talus e calcâneo. Para a idade à morte foram escolhidos os métodos de Brooks e Suchey (1990), Buckberry e Chamberlain (2002) e Rougé-Maillart e coautores (2009), todos aplicados ao coxal.Para além dos métodos para a estimativa do sexo e idade à morte, foram também avaliados os nódulos de Schmorl, a doença do disco intervertebral (DDI) e a osteoartrose, seguindo as recomendações de Waldron (2009). As duas primeiras condições foram avaliadas em quatro vértebras (a primeira e sétima vértebras torácicas e a primeira e quinta vértebras lombares) e a osteoartrose nas várias articulações dos ossos queimados. Foi ainda utilizada a classificação de Crubézy (1988) para a avaliação dos osteófitos vertebrais e foram calculadas as diferenças relativas das três dimensões dos osteófitos anteriores (comprimento, largura e altura) e ainda dos osteófitos da patela.VIOs resultados obtidos através da aplicação do método de Waldron (2009) foram mais concordantes nos nódulos de Schmorl e na DDI; já a osteoartrose obteve concordâncias geralmente baixas (a articulação do tornozelo obteve uma concordância muito baixa – 0,200). A classificação de Crubézy (1988) registou concordâncias boas, apesar da geral diminuição das dimensões dos osteófitos das vértebras e das patelas pós-queima.Os resultados obtidos através da aplicação dos métodos de estimativa do sexo revelaram maior grau de concordância, sendo os dos métodos morfológicos a registar maior concordância entre as avaliações pré- e pós-queima (por exemplo o método Bruzek (2002), com concordância para o resultado final de excelente e bom – 1,000 e 0,765, respectivamente). Quanto aos resultados obtidos através dos métodos de estimativa da idade à morte, na sua maioria, obtiveram-se graus de concordância menores nas avaliações pré- e pós-queima, como as concordâncias razoável e boa resultantes da aplicação do método de Brooks e Suchey (1990) – 0,558 e 0,646.Os resultados deste trabalho mostraram a maior consistência dos resultados obtidos através de alguns métodos em relação a outros. Por exemplo, a aplicação do método de Bruzek (2002) revelou resultados mais concordantes em relação aos de Buikstra e Ubelaker (1994). Identificaram-se também, dentro de cada método, quais os indicadores mais confiáveis (ex.: o ramo isquiopúbico foi mais consistente do que o sulco pré-auricular). Documentou-se também o impacto das diferentes temperaturas na concordância entre observações pré- e pós-queima.São também indicados os métodos mais consistentes para estimar dois dos parâmetros do perfil biológico e a avaliação das alterações patológicas degenerativas em osso queimados, assim como as abordagens a evitar. Trata-se do primeiro estudo sistemático desta natureza, fornecendo assim dados preciosos para a práxis antropológica referentes a ossos queimados.
The main purpose of this investigation was to evaluate the influence of experimental burning of human skeletons, considering the applicability of methodologies to estimate two parameters of the biological profile (sex and age at death), and to evaluate the impact in pathological changes such as Schmorl nodules, intervertebral disc disease, and osteoarthritis in burnt human skeletons.The specific goal was to determine the level of agreement of observations before and after burn. For this, the 21st century identified skeletons collection, housed in the Laboratory of Forensic Anthropology of the University of Coimbra (22 males and 29 females aged between 60 and 93 years old at death), was used and the following methods were applied: i) in bones before and after the experimental burn; or, alternatively, ii) in burnt bone and its unburnt antimere in skeletons experimentally burnt previously to this study. For comparison, the statistic test Gwet’s AC1 and the exact agreement were used.Morphological and metric methods were used to estimate sex - Buikstra e Ubelaker (1994) recommendations based on the pelvis; Bruzek (2002) applied to the pelvis; Curate et al. (2016) applied to the femur; and Wasterlain (2000) and Gonçalves et al. (2013) applied on the humerus, femur, talus and calcaneus, applied on the humerus, femur, talus and calcaneus. For the estimation of age at death, the methods choosed were Brooks e Suchey (1990), Buckberry e Chamberlain (2002) and Rougé-Maillart et al. (2009), all applied to the pelvis.In addition to the methods to estimate sex and age at death, Waldron recommendation (2009) were also applied in order to evaluate Schmorl´s nodules, intervertebral disc disease (IDD) and osteoarthritis. The presence of the first two was assessed in four vertebrae (first and seventh thoracic vertebrae and the first and fifth lumbar vertebrae) and osteoarthritis was assessed in the burnt bone joints. The Crubézy classification (1988) was used to evaluate the vertebral osteophytes. Additionally, mean relative differences in the previously osteophyte measurements (length, width and height) and patella osteophytes were calculated.The results reached using the Waldron method (2009) obtained better agreement for Schmorl nodules and intervertebral disc disease. Generally, low agreement wasVIIIobserved for osteoarthritis. On the other hand, the Crubézy classification (1988) showed reasonable agreement despite the general decrease in the size of vertebral osteophytes and patellae post-burn.The results obtain through the sex estimation methods obtained greater agreement, being that the metric methods recorded greater agreement between pre- and post-burn evaluations (for example, the Bruzek method (2002) with a final agreement of excellent and good – 1,000 e 0,765, respectively). As for the results obtained through age at death methods, in most cases, the agreement obtained was lower for the pre- and post-burn, like the agreements reasonable and good (0,558 e 0,646) of the application of the Brooks e Suchey method (1990).The results of this investigation highlighted that the results obtained through methods here under consideration have variable consistency rates. For example, the application of the Bruzek method (2002) revealed better agreement than Buikstra e Ubelaker method (1994). In addition, within each method, the most reliable features were identified (e.g., the ischiopubic bridge was more consistent than the preauricular sulcus). The impact of different temperatures on the agreement rates between pre- and post-burn observations was documented.This study indicates the most consistent methods to estimate two of the biological profile parameters and to evaluate of degenerative pathologies in burnt bone, as well as those that should be avoided. This is the first systematic study of its kind, thus providing valuable data for anthropological praxis concerning burnt bones.

Recombinant human bone morphogenic proteins (rhBMPs) are extensively studied and employed clinically for treatment of various bone defects. Current clinical delivery vehicles suffer wasteful burst releases that mandate supra-physiological dosing driving concerns over safety and cost. It was therefore investigated whether a unique drug delivery vehicle sequestered within a composite scaffold could lower the burst release of rhBMP-2. PLGA-calcium phosphate tri-phasic composite scaffolds delivered model protein BSA with burst release of ~13% and sustained kinetics of 0.5-1.5% BSA/day up to 45 days. rhBMP-2 was delivered with zero burst release however at much lower levels, totaling 0.09% to 0.9 % release over 10 days, but had up to 6.3-fold greater bioactivity than fresh rhBMP-2 (p<0.05). In conclusion, the three-phase composite scaffold can deliver bioactive proteins with a reduced burst release and sustained secondary kinetics.