Cremations, more than just a little pile of ash

Cremated human osseous remains are an important yet challenging source material for anthropologists. This article presents basic information essential for the anthropological study of cremations as well as the potential of this source material in the reconstruction of funeral practices. The paper is based on one of the keynote lectures on the treatment of cremations presented at the workshop organized by the scientific work group "Paleoanthropology and Prehistoric Anthropology" (APPA) in Weimar, April 2019. Numerous physical changes are incurred to skeletal material due to heat exposure and must be taken into consideration during diagnostic procedures conducted on cremations. Some anthropological examination methods can only be used in modified form or to a limited extent. For example, determination of age at death by analyzing histological thin sections from bone is a helpful alternative to traditional morphological methods. The qualitative assessment of bone cross sections helps not only in narrowing down age at death estimations, but also to distinguish between animal and human bones.