More than urns: A multi-method pipeline for analyzing cremation burials

Abstract

Burial rites of archaeological populations are frequently interpreted based on cremated remains of the human body and the urn they were deposited in. In comparison to inhumations, information about the deceased is much more limited and dependent on fragmentation, selection of body regions, taphonomic processes, and excavation techniques. So far, little attention has been paid to the context in which urns are buried. In this study, we combined archaeological techniques with anthropology, computed tomography, archaeobotany, zooarchaeology, geochemistry and isotopic approaches and conducted a detailed analysis on a case study of two Late Bronze Age urns from St. Pölten, Austria (c. 1430 and 1260 cal. BCE). The urns were recovered en-bloc and CT-scanned before the micro-excavation. Osteological and strontium isotope analysis revealed that the cremated remains comprised a young adult female and a child that died at the age of 10-12 years. Both individuals had been subject to physiological stress and were likely local. Animal bones burnt at different temperatures suggested different depositional pathways into the urn and pit as part of the pyre, food offerings, and unintentional settlement debris. Eight wild plant and five crop plant species appeared as part of the local landscape, as food offerings and fire accelerants. Sediment chemistry suggests that pyre remains were deposited around the urns during burial. Multi-element geochemistry, archaeobotany, and zooarchaeology provide insights into the Late Bronze Age environment, the process of cremation, the gathering of bones and final funerary deposition.

Fig 1. Map of Austria with the marked position of the city St. Pölten and the location of the excavation site Furhmanngasse 3-7in St. Pölten.

Fig 2

Urn 1 (left) and Urn 2 (right) before recovery. Scale length is 60 cm on the left photo and 30 cm on the right photo.

Fig 3

a) Urn 1 after en-bloc recovery. b) Urn 1 after removing the plaster and placing it upside down. Please note a part of a second vessel at the top of the block. c) Urn 2 after en-bloc recovery. d) Urn 2 after removing the plaster. Scale length is 1 cm.

Fig 4. 3D surface construction of the findings of Urn 2.

Green: ceramic of Urn 2, purple: ceramic sherds of another vessel next to Urn 2; blue: general bone fragments; other colors: identifiable bone fragments. Scale length is 6 cm.

Fig 5

a) mid-sagittal section of Urn 1 with arbitrary excavation layers, b) MIP-projection of layer 80, c) photo of layer 80 during excavation, d) mid-sagittal section of Urn 2 with arbitrary layers, e) MIP-projection of layer 150, f) photo of layer 150 during excavation. The numbers represent identifiable structures in b) and c) or e) and f): 1) lumbar vertebra, 2) femoral head, 3) humerus diaphysis, 4) bronze wire and pendant, 5) cranial fragment, 6) humerus head, 7) bronze spirals, 8) bronze sheet, 9) cranial fragment, 10) tibial fragment. Scale length is 5 cm.

Fig 6. Consolidated bones from Urn 1.

a) prox. femoral end, b) humerus diaphysis, c) 4^th metacarpal bone. Scale length is 10 cm.

Fig 7. Cranial fragment from Urn 2.

a) in situ fragmented cranial bone and still in the original shape, b) after removal, the bone fragments fell apart which affects the anthropological analysis. Scale length is 4 cm.

Fig 8. Calibration curve of the radiocarbon dates of cremated bones from Urn 1 and Urn 2.

Fig 9. Curve plot from the calibration of the radiocarbon dates of cremated bones from Urn 1 and Urn 2.

Fig 10

Charred seeds and chaff from Urn 1: crops: 1 lentil (Lens culinaris), 2 common millet (Panicum miliaceum); chaff: 3 einkorn (Triticum monococcum), 4 emmer (Triticum dicoccum); wild plants: 5 black elderberry (Sambucus nigra), 6 black-bindweed (Fallopia convolvulus), 7 white bryony (Bryonia alba). Scale length is 1 mm.