Snoeck Christophe, Cheung Christina, Griffith Jacob I, James Hannah F, Salesse Kevin
Department of Chemistry, Research Unit: Analytical, Environmental and Geo-Chemistry, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, AMGC-WE-VUB, Pleinlaan 2, Brussels 1050, Belgium.
Department of Art Sciences and Archaeology, Maritime Cultures Research Institute, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Pleinlaan 2, Brussels 1050, Belgium.
Data Brief. 2022 Apr 2;42:108115. doi: 10.1016/j.dib.2022.108115. eCollection 2022 Jun.
Cremated human remains are commonly found in the archaeological records, especially in Europe during the Metal Ages and the Roman period. Due to the high temperatures reached during cremation (up to 1000°C), most biological information locked in the isotopic composition of different tissues is heavily altered or even destroyed. The recent demonstration that strontium isotope ratio (Sr/Sr) remain unaltered during cremation and are even very resistant to post-burial alterations (which is not the case in unburned bone), opened new possibility for palaeomobility studies of ancient populations that practice cremations as a funerary ritual. This paper summarizes strontium isotopic data produced over the last decade which is then deposited on the open-access platform IsoArcH (https://isoarch.eu/) for any interested parties to use. It is the first time isotopic data on cremated remains is introduced in this database, significantly extending its impact on the scientific community.
火化后的人类遗骸在考古记录中很常见，尤其是在欧洲的金属时代和罗马时期。由于火化过程中达到的高温（高达1000°C），不同组织同位素组成中锁定的大多数生物信息都被严重改变甚至破坏。最近的研究表明，锶同位素比率（Sr/Sr）在火化过程中保持不变，甚至对埋葬后的变化具有很强的抵抗力（未燃烧的骨头则不然），这为将火化作为丧葬仪式的古代人群的古迁移研究开辟了新的可能性。本文总结了过去十年产生的锶同位素数据，这些数据随后存放在开放获取平台IsoArcH（https://isoarch.eu/）上，供任何感兴趣的各方使用。这是该数据库首次引入火化遗骸的同位素数据，显著扩大了其对科学界的影响。
