Joint disassociation pattern from a taphonomical and anthropological point of view

ABSTRACT

Understanding the way in which skeleton is disarticulated helps to interpret taphonomical process during the human decomposition and the evolution of corpses in advanced state of decomposition. This information may help to reconstruct the burial circumstances. Joint disassociation pattern could seem easy to deduce but slight movements of bones or subjective interpretation of position makes the correct taphonomical interpretation difficult. The aim of this study is to develop a method to analyse the joint disassociation pattern of different articulations that can be useful in diverse burial circumstances. Different bone articulations from 54 unclaimed skeletal human remains from cemetery conditions (i.e. bodies buried in a void and limited by coffins and clothes) were examined. Joints were classified as articulated, disarticulated or displaced, depending on the minimum number of unidirectional movements needed to rebuild them. This method could be helpful to interpret changes related with the post mortem environment or human intervention, as well as to describe the funerary ritual in ancient remains and the circumstances surrounding the death in a forensic context.

KEYWORDS:

• Human remains
• articulation pattern
• cemetery
• funerary ritual

Acknowledgments

A special thank you must be extended to cemetery staff, Societat Municipal de Serveis Funeraris de Terrassa SAU and Cementiris de Barcelona S.A.U. from directors till technical staff. IG and AM are part of GREAB (Research Group in Biological Anthropology, 2014 SGR 1420, Generalitat de Catalunya) and DN, AG, NA and AM are members of RIIF (Red Iberoamericana de Investigadores Forenses-CYTED 2021).

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Ethical approval

Joint disassociation pattern from a taphonomical and anthropological point of view forms part of dissertation thesis headed by Universtat Autònoma de Barcelona. The access to the unclaimed remains was facilitated by cemetery authorities to the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. An official agreement of collaboration with cemetery authorities and a health licence were approved.

Additional information

Funding

TAG has a postdoctoral Margarita Salas Grant (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona), Next Generation EU at the MNCN-CSIC.