Institute of Archaeology, UCL, London, UK.
Department of Forensic Medicine and Toxicology, School of Medicine, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 75 Mikras Asias Street, Athens, 11527, Greece.
J Forensic Leg Med. 2021 Feb;78:102115. doi: 10.1016/j.jflm.2020.102115. Epub 2021 Jan 13.
Understanding the taphonomic process of burning allows forensic practitioners to better interpret remains and reconstruct the burning incident in a medicolegal investigation. This can yield critical information, especially when other details, such as the biological profile, are obscured by fire. A forensic case involving human remains recovered within a Greek Orthodox cemetery that exhibited a distinctive pattern of differential burning is reported. The bones exhibited a range of differential burning in a pattern inconsistent with the anatomical position of the remains during heat exposure. No macroscopic signs of skeletal trauma or evidence of dismemberment were present on the remains. The pre-burning condition of the bones was inferred based on the presence of the differential burning and its localization identified through analysis of a suite of macroscopic heat-induced traits, as well as consideration of the forensic context. The anthropologists concluded that the bones were skeletonized prior to burning and that the remains were once interred or stored in an ossuary and were likely burned in a ritualistic manner, given the artifacts present and the conspicuous location of the burn area. This case highlights the practical experience required of forensic practitioners encountering burned remains and the necessity of understanding fire as a taphonomic agent that can be analyzed to determine pre-burning condition and the scenario of the burning event in a medicolegal investigation. Furthermore, this case underscores the achievability of pre-burning condition determination using macroscopic traits alone, even when there is a paucity of skeletal elements in the inventory. Due to knowledge of the funerary customs of modern-day Greece, the practitioners were able to interpret the origin of the remains, thereby this paper provides insight into a geographically specific forensic context.
了解燃烧的埋藏学过程可以使法医从业者更好地解释遗骸，并在法医学调查中重建燃烧事件。这可以提供关键信息，尤其是当其他细节，如生物学特征，被火灾掩盖时。本文报告了一起涉及在希腊东正教墓地发现的人类遗骸的法医案例，这些遗骸表现出明显的差异燃烧模式。这些骨头的燃烧程度存在差异，与遗骸在受热时的解剖位置不一致。在遗骸上没有发现明显的骨骼创伤或肢解迹象。根据差异燃烧的存在以及通过分析一系列宏观热诱导特征和考虑法医背景来确定其定位，推断出骨头在燃烧前的预燃烧状态。人类学家得出结论，骨头在燃烧前已经被火化，遗骸曾经被埋葬或存放在骨库中，并且由于存在文物和明显的烧伤区域，遗骸可能是在仪式上被焚烧的。这个案例突出了法医从业者在遇到烧伤遗骸时所需的实际经验，以及理解火灾作为埋藏学因素的必要性，这种因素可以被分析以确定预燃烧状态和法医学调查中燃烧事件的情况。此外，即使库存中骨骼元素很少，仅使用宏观特征也可以确定预燃烧状态，这一点也得到了证明。由于了解现代希腊的丧葬习俗，从业者能够解释遗骸的来源，从而本文为特定地理区域的法医背景提供了深入了解。
