Thesis (Kandidatspeciale / MA)--Institute of Anthropology, University of Copenhagen. / Title from screen page; viewed 25 July 2005. Includes bibliographical references. Also available in print format.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2008. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 743-826).

När Försvarsmakten brukar sitt materiel under krigslika förhållanden kan både personer och materiel ta skada. Hur mänskliga kvarlevor skall omhändertas ur ett reperationsobjekt är idag okänt. Problemet med hanteringen av mänskliga kvarlevor återfinns inte i teknisk tjänst reglemente eller någon annan styrning. Problemet med mänskliga kvarlevor i ett objekt kan både vara en fråga för logistik, sjukvård, polis, juridik, teknisk tjänst eller en kombination av dessa. Chefen på plats behöver ha i åtanke tre stycken olika huvudskeenden, såsom att ta hand om den avlidne, sanera utrustningen och slutligen reparera utrustningen. Uppsatsens syfte är att undersöka hur hanteringen av mänskliga kvarlevor på en skadeplats bör regleras. Arbetet är avgränsat till att studera hur mänskliga kvarlevor lämpligen borde hanteras av den svenska försvarsmakten, från att en person blir skadad eller dödad i ett fordon, tills att vagnen kan bli lagad.  De metoder som används för datainsamling är intervju, frågeformulär och litteraturstudie. Resultat har visat att mänskliga kvarlevor indirekt påverkas nästan alla åtgärderna på en skadeplats och teknisk åtgärdstid. Det uppstår ett behov av att ta hand om den avlidna kroppen och att sanera utrustningen, vilket det finns bristande eller inga rutiner för. De rutiner som finns i reglementena är för generella för att ge stöd till beslutsfattaren. Vem som ska sanera och hur det ska genomföras inom försvarsmakten är fortfarande okänt. Författaren har tagit fram sju olika rekommendationer för fortsatta studier. / When the Armed Forces use their material under warlike conditions, both persons and material can come to harm. How human remains are to be disposed of from a damage vehicle is unknown today. The problem of managing human remains is not found in technical service regulations or any other control. The issue of human remains in an object can be an issue both for the logistical, medical, police, legal, technical service or a combination of those. The man in charge needs to keep in mind three different steps, such as taking care of the deceased, cleaning the equipment and finally repairing the equipment. The purpose of the essay is to investigate how the management of human remains in scene of an accident should be regulated. The work is limited to studying how human remains should suitably be handled by the Swedish Armed Forces, from when a person has been injured or killed in a vehicle, until the vehicle can be repaired. The methods used for data collecting are interview, questionnaire and literature study. The results of the study show that indirectly, almost all measures on a scene of an accident and technical response time are affected due to human remains. There is a need to take care of the deceased body and to clean the equipment, which is lacking or no routines for. The procedures available are too general to provide support to the decision maker. Who to clean and how to implement it within the Armed Forces is still unknown. The author has developed seven different recommendations for further studies

This paper uses an osteological approach and applies the study of entanglement in an attempt to understand the crematoria on Rapa Nui (Easter Island), which represent a unique tradition within the ceremonial spheres of the Polynesian area. Skeletal remains from the crematorium of ahu Hanga Hahave, which consist of both cremated - and unburned remains, have been analysed to reveal the different practices that took part in the cremation process and to identify the individuals that were deposited in such structure. Ethnohistorical records were applied to interpret the osteological evidence and to discuss the circumstances surrounding the possible use of the crematorium, as either a site for sacrificial offerings or a site for burials.  This paper aims at creating an underlying basis for the study of crematoria on Rapa Nui and provides an overview of the processes central to the disposal of the dead and the usage and significance of this structure. The results of this study showed that the ancient Rapanui through the practice of cremation, followed an internalised structure within their society to complete each cultural act that constituted the crematorium, and these were divided in the construction of the crematorium, the making of fire, and the treatment of the dead. The complexity of each cultural act presents the possibility that an organised society, with at least one designated head, may have been in charge of the practice of cremation physically and spiritually. The skeletal remains could not be applied to determine whether the crematorium of Hanga Hahave was used for sacrificial offering or for burial since the analysed remains only represented one-fifth of the entire bone collection from the crematorium. However, the findings of this study have pointed towards a burial practice rather than a sacrificial one. / Denna uppsats använder ett osteologiskt tillvägagångssätt och Hodders’’entanglement’ studie i tolkningen av krematorierna på Rapa Nui (Påskön), som representerar en unik tradition inom Polynesien. Skelettmaterialet från krematoriet i ahu Hanga Hahave har analyserats för att upptäcka de olika metoder som deltog i kremeringsprocessen och identifiera vilka individer som deponerades här. Etnohistoriska källor användes också i tolkningen av det osteologiska materialet och för att behandla frågorna kring krematoriernas användning: antigen som en plats för offring eller en plats för begravning. Syftet är att skapa en underliggande grund för studiet av krematorierna på Rapa Nui för att ge en överblick på de centrala processerna. Resultatet visade att den forntida Rapanui följde en internaliserad struktur inom sitt samhälle för att slutföra varje kulturell handling som utgjorde kremerings praktik och var uppdelade i konstruktionen av krematoriet, bruken av eld och hantering av de döda. Komplexiteten hos varje handling möjliggör att ett organiserat samhälle, där minst en ledare har varit ansvarig i fysisk eller andlig form. Skelettmaterialet från krematoriet i ahu Hanga Hahave kunde inte användas för att bestämma krematoriets användning eftersom det analyserade materialet endast representerade en femtedel av den totala bensamlingen, dock pekar studiet på en begravningsritual snarare än en offer.

Cremated bone occurs in many archaeological sites as small grey and white fragments. The high temperatures reached during heating induce structural, chemical and isotopic changes to bone apatite (the inorganic fraction of bone). These changes are investigated here by infrared spectroscopy and mass spectrometry (d13C, d18O and 87Sr/86Sr) in both modern heated bone and archaeological cremated specimens. The results of various heating experiments (in laboratory and natural conditions) highlight the significant carbon and oxygen exchanges with the fuel used as well as with bone organic matter (mainly collagen). While not informing on dietary practice and hydrology as is the case with unburned bone, the d13C and d18O values of calcined samples together with infrared results provide information on the conditions in which the bone was heated (e.g. presence of fuel, size of the pyre, temperatures reached, dry or fresh bone, etc.). In parallel, the effect of heat on the strontium present in bone is minimal, if not undetectable. Furthermore, as observed through artificial contamination experiments, post-burial alterations also appear to be extremely limited, which is to be expected due to the higher crystallinity of calcined bone apatite compared to tooth enamel and unburned bone. These experiments demonstrate that calcined bone provides a reliable substrate for mobility studies using its strontium isotope composition. The application of these results to the study of six Neolithic and one Bronze Age sites from Ireland showed the possibility of discriminating cremated individuals that ate food originating from different regions, as well as highlighting possible variations in cremation practices between different sites. The results of this thesis greatly extend the application of strontium isotopes to places and periods in which cremation was the dominant mortuary practice, or where unburned bone and enamel do not survive. They also provide insights into the reconstruction of ancient cremation practices.

The aim of this thesis was to reconstruct dietary choices for Neolithic populations in Anatolia and Poland using stable isotope analysis, and to examine the extent to which local environmental factors in these regions affected the isotope values recorded from skeletal collagen. In total 278 new δ13C and δ15N values were obtained from human and animal bone collagen for this project (161 from the site of Oslonki 1, 59 from Barçin Höyük, and 58 from the site of Aktopraklik). From an environmental perspective, the multi-level statistical modelling highlighted a clear relationship with δ13C and δ15N and moisture availability, which was most evident through the proxy of mean annual precipitation (MAP). The modelling highlighted a 0.4‰ decrease in d13C for every 100mm decrease of MAP, and a 0.5‰ decrease in d15N for every 100mm decrease between sites. The δ13C and δ15N values for the North-West Anatolian sites are the first dietary isotopic studies for the Neolithic period in the region. The values are largely commensurate with the dietary isotope studies from Neolithic sites located on the Central Anatolian plateau, with the caveat that the North-West sites perhaps had a greater reliance on herbivore protein (instead of plant protein) than their plateau counterparts. The dietary reconstruction of Oslonki 1 uncovered a rather unexpected outcome - namely that status exerted a degree of control over human diet. If this is indeed true it will be the earliest evidence in Europe of a distinct relationship between the socioeconomic status and diet of an individual.

The burial area BRiG 3117 (Coyungo) was investigated during the PABRiG (Proyecto Arqueológico Bajo Río Grande). It consists of four burial contexts with about 25 individuals (MNI) and a considerable amount of pottery, textiles and gourd fragments among others. One of the textiles is part of a famous piece housed at Dumbarton Oaks. It is the most significant and complex compound known from the south coast during Late Formative times despite its heavy previous looting. In this paper the material evidence is presented in a preliminary form and some concerning interpretations are offered. / El área funeraria BRiG 3117 (Coyungo) fue investigada en el marco del Proyecto Arqueológico Bajo Río Grande de Nazca. Se trata de un conjunto de cuatro contextos funerarios con unos 25 individuos (NMI) y una cantidad elevada de restos de cerámica, textiles, mates y otros. Uno de los fragmentos pertenece a una famosa pieza de la colección de Dumbarton Oaks. Es el conjunto más complejo y significativo del Periodo Formativo Tardío de la costa sur conocido hasta la fecha, pese a que estaba saqueado. En este trabajo se presentan las evidencias en forma preliminar y se ofrecen algunas interpretaciones al respecto.

Clandestine burials, the interred human remains of forensic interest, are generally small features located in isolated environments. Typical ground searches can be both time-consuming and dangerous. Thermal remote sensing has been recognized for some time as a possible search strategy for such burials that are in relatively open areas; however, there is a paucity of published research with respect to this application. This project involved image manipulation, the analyses of signatures for "graves" of various depths when compared to an undisturbed background, and the use of image classification techniques to tease out these features. This research demonstrates a relationship between the depth of burial disturbance and the resultant signature. Further, image classification techniques, especially object-oriented algorithms, can be successfully applied to single band thermal imagery. These findings may ultimately decrease burial search times for law enforcement and increase the likelihood of locating clandestine graves.

This study focuses on the attitudes of museumgoers toward the exhibition of human remains in modern Swedish museums. More specifically, it deals with how their attitudes toward remains are shaped and informed by museums’ materiality and institutionalized authority, whether they think of remains as humans or objects, as well as how these dead bodies ultimately become culturally meaningful to us who are still alive. Through the use of ethnographic field methods including go-along interviews and participant observation, the behaviors and opinions of museumgoers are recorded. With the help of Emmanuel Levinas’ ethical phenomenology and Annemarie Mol’s theory of multiple ontology, the cultural background against which these attitudes have taken shape is examined. The study shows that museumgoers are generally positive toward the exhibition of human remains in museums—an attitude which is influenced by the history, scientific authority, and carefully designed materiality of the museum. Among the perceived benefits of exhibiting human remains, visitors cite the ability of the remains to arouse their curiosity and serve as links to the past, as well as provide material proof that validates the museum’s claims to knowledge. However, this positive attitude is dependent on whether the remains are treated and displayed with respect. This call to treat the dead respectfully can be seen as a universal reaction to the ”face-to-face encounter” as described by Emmanuel Levinas, but at the same time, museumgoers’ interpretation of respect is culturally contingent and heavily influenced by contemporary values such as individuality, scientific objectivity, and equality. Furthermore, the perceived need to treat remains respectfully is directly tied to the perceived humanity of the remains. This is in turn dependent on how close the remains are to us in terms of appearance and temporal distance. By focusing on museumgoers instead of professionals, and through using ethnographic fieldwork to note opinions and their cultural backgrounds, this study attempts to add a fresh perspective and new knowledge to what is currently one of the hottest debates in museology: whether remains even belong in museums. Further, by recognizing that no opinion is formed in a vacuum, the narrow question of displaying death can tell us something bigger about the norms and values of Sweden today.

No description available.