Communication à un colloque
Résumé : If post-cremation life histories of cremains and cremation-related deposits can be readily investigated as they refer to the last handling of the deceased, the treatment of the corpse during the burning act itself is little addressed by textual sources thus is at present extremely difficult to define. Recent advances in biogeochemical techniques present a unique opportunity to finally be able to characterize the act of cremation itself and bring a new breakthrough in our current archaeo-anthropological knowledge of the burning act itself through time. In this paper, we will focus on the possibility to detect the presence of garments worn by the deceased through stable isotope evidences (δ13C, δ18O) on calcined bones. More specifically, we will investigate whether the deceased was shoed or not, as the latter is likely one of the clothing items most resistant to fire and might represent a proxy to discuss whether an individual was dressed or not. It is hypothesized that foot bones encased in shoes might experience heating conditions characteristic to confined-space cremation (low oxygen availability, poorly ventilated). These heating conditions could differ from those without shoes. To do this, experimental cremations with shoed and unshoed pig feet have been performed in Belgium. Results from these experiments will be presented.

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