engleski

Micro CT of cremains from late bronze age period from Croatia

The purpose was to present micro CT morphological images and postprocessing results from further studies of dental cremated remains (cremains) from Late Bronze Age from Croatia. Previously 53 cremated teeth from 5 graves were micro-excavated from urns and scanned using the SkyScan 1076 (Bruker, Belgium) micro CT Scanner with the resolution of 18 um, but only specimen from one grave (8 teeth) were analysed using postprocessing and presented on ECR in 2015. Now the rest of 4 graves with total of 45 teeth were subjected to further analysis. Anatomical details such as root canal, enamel and dentin were resolved on reconstructed images. Cremation induced microfractures that span through dentin and enamel were segmented with concurrent quantificationfor each tooth, respectively. Total porosity induced by cremation ranged from 8.03 % to 79.43 % depending on the tooth size, with the mean of 17.53±13.73%. Open porosity ranging between 8.03% and 79.38 % with a mean of 17.47±13.73% was revealed by further analysis, while closed porosity ranged between 0.001% to 0.2476% with a mean of 0.043±0.045%. Additional pore analysis excluding the root canal revealed mean pore volume of 9.82±15.50 mm3 with an 0.23±0.25 mm average pore thickness and pore connectivity density 29.75±20.58 mm3. As previously concluded, micro CT offers another dimension into imaging of ancient dental cremains as spacial resolution is greater several fold than in other imaging methods. Image reconstruction allowed us the depiction of tooth details and with 3D analysis we could further examine formed microfractures and compare open and closed porosity. Although we still don’t have a comparison with remains from same period that were not subjected to cremation, we can attribute micro cracks and open porosity to changes due to cremation. Additional research and comparison with higher number of specimen is needed.

Paleoradiology, Croatia, Cremains, Archeology, micro CT, Ancient history

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