The role of Multislice Computerized Tomography (MSCT) in the

The role of Multislice Computerized Tomography (MSCT) in the study of some
Iron Age cinerary urns of upper Adriatic and Pannonic area.
Fabio Cavalli 1,2, Matija Črešnar 3,4, Josip Višnjić 5, Dario Innocenti 2,6, Manca Vinazza 3, Biba Teržan 3
1
Unità di Ricerca di Paleoradiologia e Scienze Affini, LTS – SCIT, AOU Trieste¸2 Accademia Jaufré Rudel, Sezione di
Storia della Medicina e Bioarcheologia, Gradisca d’Isonzo; 3 University of Ljubljana; 4 Institute for the Protection of Cultural Heritage of Slovenia;
5
Croatian Conservation Institute, Department for Archaeology; 6 Scuola Dottorale in Scienze dell’Antichità, Università Cà Foscari, Venezia
The archaeological complex of Poštela near Maribor (Slovenia) is one of the prominent Iron Age centers of the south-eastern Alpine
region. It has been broadly researched since the 19 th century, however the last years, modern archaeological investigations, including
remote sensing methods, such a lidar and geophysics, shed new light onto the whole complex. Since 2010 several research campaigns
were carried out and resulted in a broad span of new information regarding the complex and its population. One of the test trenches,
dug on a supposedly flat cremation cemetery, resulted in five graves, four of them containing urns, which are the objects of this study.
Urn necropolis of Beram in Istria (Croatia) was researched at the end of 19th century by archeologists C. Marchesetti, K. Moser and A.
Amoroso. Research conducted in 1883 revealed 172 graves. Individual luxury objects imported from different parts of Apennine
Peninsula speak about significance that Beram and his inhabitants had throughout the Iron Age.
During the year 2013, one hundred and thirty years after the last excavations of the Beram necropolis, the Department for Archaeology of Croatian Conservation Institute, together with Italian colleagues, initiated a series of test-pits that should reveal the potential of
the site for further excavations.
Conducted excavations showed that the necropolis is even larger than it was presumed earlier. Namely, in one of the researched pits,
located toward the south from the earlier researched area, a grave deposited in a rock-cut grave-pit was excavated. It contained an urn,
holding cremated bone remains, which were covered with a flat stone.
N.
Cinerarium
Cremains study
Vessel study
Microexcavation
1
Grave 1 – Beram
Female adult
Yes
Female adult
2
Grave 16 - Poštela
Not diagnostic
Yes
Not diagnostic
3
Grave 18 - Poštela
Not diagnostic
No - incomplete
Not diagnostic
4
Grave 19 - Poštela
Subadult?
Yes
Not diagnostic
5
Grave 20 - Poštela
Subadult
Yes
Not diagnostic
Tab. 1 – MSCT vs. microexcavation results
MSCT analysis ("virtual micro-excavation") allows to perform a complete and non-destructive archaeological and anthropological
recognition of the urn. This technique appears in some ways (morphological study of the urn and funerary goods, consistency of the
ossilegium, spatial arrangement of the cremated bone fragments, metric and morphological study of the cortical and the epiphyseal
bone fragments, paleopathological aspects) equal to or better than the traditional laboratory micro-excavation procedures. In addition,
the cortical bone X-ray densitometry would seem to provide a quantitative measure of heat exposure of the corpse, with indirect
notices about the characteristics of the pyre.
Bibliography:
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Cecchi F., Giulierini P., Pallecchi P., Cortona, pp. 115–120.
HARVIG L., LYNNERUP N., AMSGAARD EBSEN J. 2012, Computed Tomography and Computed Radiography of Late bronze age cremation
urns from Denmark: an interdisciplinary attempt to develop methods applied in bioarchaeological cremation research, Archaeometry 54(2), 369–
387, 2012
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cremations by computed tomography (CT), Antiquity, 84, pp. 195–201
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Fig.1
Fig.2
Fig.1 – Beram, Gr. 1: MSTC
coronal slice with separation
of the materials contained in
the urn.
Fig.2 – Poštela, Gr. 19:
Comparison between microexcavation and MSCT.
Fig.3 – Poštela, Gr. 18:
Segmentation of diagnostic
fragments with length
estimation.
Fig.4 – Poštela, Gr. 20:
Segmentation and 3D
rendering of cremains.
Subadult subject.
Fig.3
Fig.4
LABORATORY
High. Can be reduced by experience. Dependent on the matrix of the contents of the urn.
Difficulty
Secondary bone fragmentation
Legibility of bone content
Measurements
Bone weight
Cremation temperature determination
Sex determination
Age of death determination
Paleopatological analysis
Study of the morphology and the structure of
the container
Funerary goods fragmentation
Significative
Good
Good
Yes
Yes, colorimetric (empiric)
Possible
Possible
Possible
After emptying and restoration
Funerary goods position
Archaeologic classification
Musealization
Yes, if recoverable
Yes
Yes, only the container and restorable objects.
Generally high, due to oxydation. Objects with
high grade of oxidation are not recoverable.
MSTC
High. Can be reduced by experience. Independent on the matrix of the contents of the
urn.
None
Good
Good
No
Possible by Xray densitometry (numeric)
Possible
Possible
Possible
Yes, after "virtual restoration" and
morfodensitometric analysis.
None. The object can be reconstructed in proportion 1:1, even if completely oxidized and
dissolved in large part, thanks to the
radiopacity of the oxides that mark the outline.
Yes
Yes
Yes, virtual or also in classical way, with the
right curator who can see the benefits of this
even more direct and not altered contact with
the past
Tab. 2 – Comparison between laboratory microexcavation and virtual MSCT results