Virtuality VS Reality: Testing a virtual approach for the exploratory analysis of Bronze Age urns from Northern Italy

Cremation is among the most destructive funerary practices. Over the past 30 years, radiographic imaging has increasingly been used to non-destructively extract information from cremation burials. Advances in scanners and imaging software have enhanced the quality of data retrievable through this method. However, scanning cremated remains, particularly when urned, presents challenges due to their fragility, size, material density overlaps, and the high cost of imaging equipment. These factors often result in low-quality images where distinguishing different materials becomes difficult and time-consuming. This exploratory research aims to provide and assess qualitative and quantitative information from tomographic images on burials' taphonomy, biological profiles (sex and age at death), Minimum Number of Individuals (MNI) and thermal alterations to the bones and to evaluate a relatively simple segmentation strategy to analyse the spatial distribution of the remains in the vessels. For this purpose, 10 non-micro-excavated urns from the Middle-Late Bronze Age necropolis of Vicofertile (Parma, Italy) were scanned using Computerised Tomography (CT), subsequently micro-excavated, and the remains analysed to compare the information obtained from the two approaches. When extracted, data about the age classes, burial taphonomy, and heat-induced changes to the bones (e.g., fractures) were confirmed by the physical analysis, while the MNI, hypothesised to be 10 from the scans, was increased by one. Sex estimation was not possible from the scans. The vertical and horizontal distribution of the remains was estimated for cranial, long, spongy bones, upper, lower limbs, and trunk elements, with the vertical cranial distribution being the most accurately predicted category. Overall, the physical analysis proved essential to refine the results of virtual analysis and deal with the drawbacks of low-quality images. Despite the limitations discussed here, this research presents the largest systematic comparison of tomographic imaging and physical analysis of urned cremations to date, highlighting both the potential and the current limitations of CT-based investigation.