SHINING THE BEAM ON BONES: CHARACTERISATION OF BURNED SKELETAL REMAINS IN MAPS

This is a continuation of MAPS experiment RB1910011. Neutron spectroscopy is applied to study bones exposed to anaerobic burning. The results will complement previous data on skeletal remains burned in an aerobic setting, through INS, FTIR and Raman [1-9], and neutron diffraction [10], with a view to provide an improved understanding of the chemical and microcrystallinity variations undergone by bone upon burning events. Particular emphasis is given to the impact of the environmental conditions on these processes, and to the information provided by the hydroxyl vibrational bands. This is an innovative way of tackling transformations in bone, aiming at the development of a quantitative method for profiling skeletal human remains subject to extreme diagenetic processes which is expected to have a high impact in forensic and bioanthropological sciences.