Strontium isotope analyses of archaeological cremated remains – new data and perspectives

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 (87Sr/86Sr) remained unaltered during cremation and was even very resistant to post-burial alterations (which is not the case of unburned bone), opened up new possibility for palaeomobility studies of ancient populations that practices cremations as a funerary ritual. This paper summarizes the 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.

考古记录中常发现人类火化遗存，尤其在金属时代与罗马时期的欧洲遗址中。由于火化过程中可达1000℃的高温，不同组织内封存的绝大多数生物信息会发生严重改变甚至完全损毁。近期研究证实，锶同位素比值（strontium isotope ratio，87Sr/86Sr）在火化过程中未发生改变，且甚至可抵御埋藏后的环境蚀变（未烧蚀骨骼则不具备此特性），这为以火化为丧葬仪式的古代人群的古迁移研究开辟了全新路径。本文汇总了近十年间产生的锶同位素数据，并将其上传至开放获取平台IsoArcH（https://isoarch.eu/）供所有相关研究人员使用。这是该数据库首次收录火化遗存的同位素数据，将大幅提升其对学界的影响力。