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Anthropologica et Præhistorica, 127/2016 (2019) : 111-114
Chronique / Kroniek
The CRUMBEL project takes a closer look at
the human cremated bone collections from Belgium
Cremated human remains are regularly
encountered in archaeological contexts. However,
they have been seldom studied with care due to
the lack of apparent value and their high level
of fragmentation. Indeed, during cremation,
temperatures can reach up to 1000°C destroying
all organic matter (skin, flesh, etc.) and leaving
behind only the inorganic fraction (i.e. bioapatite)
of bone and teeth. Contrarily to common beliefs,
the cremated skeletal elements do not turn to
“ashes” but, conversely, tend to become whiter,
more friable, and change their properties (e.g.
higher crystallinity).
Due to the difficulty to work with
cremated human remains, these have often been
put aside. However, thanks to recent analytical
developments and improvements of osteological
and geochemical techniques, it is now possible to
extract much more information from these remains
than one originally thought. It is indeed possible
to obtain radiocarbon dates (Lanting et al.,
2001), as well as information about the mobility
and geographical origin of cremated individuals
(Har vig et al., 2014; Sno e ck et al., 2015) and the
way in which their bodies were burned (Sno eck
et al., 2014, 2016). More and more efforts are also
put into developing methods to estimate the sex
and age-at-death of cremated individuals from
their skeletal remains (cav a z z u t i et al., 2019),
although much more work is still needed.
The study of cremated bone is of particular
interest for times and places where it was one
of the dominant burial rituals. In Belgium, for
example, cremation was practiced from the late
Neolithic to the Early Medieval Period, covering
more than 3000 years of Belgian history. The
lack of studies focusing on these remains means
that many aspects of the lives of those living in
Belgium during these periods remain unknown.
Crucially, in the sandy soils of Flanders, very
few unburned human remains were found due
to the acidity of the soils. Still, cremated bone
survives such conditions due to its more crys-
talline structure and offers the opportunity to
study directly the human remains of those living
on those sandy soils.
The Excellence of Science (EoS) project
CRUMBEL – CRem ation U rns and Mobilit y: popu -
lation dynamics in BELgium – joins researchers
from the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), the
Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB), Ghent
University and the Royal Institute for Cultural
Heritage (KIK-IRPA). It aims to bring back to life
these forgotten collections of cremated bone by
applying novel methodologies and developing
additional ones. The focus will be on osteoar-
chaeological and geochemical methods as well
as experimental work (Fig. 1). Determining age-
at-death and sex of cremated individuals remains
challenging, especially when the fragmentation
state is very high, and requires further investiga-
tion. Additionally, better understanding what
happens during cremation itself is of crucial
importance to assess changes in funerary prac-
tices through time and space. To this end, experi-
mental cremations will be combined with isotopic
and elemental analyses, as well as spectroscopic
and x-ray techniques.
Established methods of radiocarbon dating
and strontium isotope analyses of cremated bone
will be widely applied on samples from several
hundred sites (DaLLe et al., 2019; Fig. 2) to refine
the Belgian chronology and assess population
dynamics through time in Belgium. The latter also
requires the establishment of a national baseline
of the biologically available strontium based on
modern plants, which will be of use, not only to
this project but to any project looking into animal
Chronique / Kroniek
112
and human mobility. Combined with the osteo-
logical data, the radiocarbon dates and strontium
isotope ratios will allow to evaluate demographic
and cultural changes and how these are linked to
one another in Belgium from the Neolithic to the
Early Middle ages.
Fig. 1 – Experimental cremation pyre reconstruction to better understand funerary practices.
The 4-year CRUMBEL project (2018-
2021), spanning across three millennia and
covering more than 30,000 km2 will, without a
doubt, lay the foundations for future research
looking into archaeological population dynamics
at a national and international scale.
Chronique / Kroniek 113
Bibliography
cav a z z u t i c., Bre S a Do L a B., D’in n o cen zo c.,
in te r L a nD o S. & SperD u t i A., 2019. Towards
a new osteometric method for sexing ancient
cremated human remains. Analysis of Late
Bronze Age and Iron Age samples from Italy
with gendered grave goods. PloS one, 14 (1):
e0209423.
DaLLe S., SaBa u x c., ca p u z z o g., t y S D., Sn o e ck
c., vercaut er en M., Wa r M e n Bo L e., BouDin
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i., veS eL k a B., Seng eL øv a., HLa D M., SaLe SSe
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the collecting of protohistoric cremation samples
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protohistorica, 27: 9–14.
Harv ig L., Frei k. M., price t. D. & Ly n n eru p
Fig. 2 – Map of selected sites for the CRUMBEL project.
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petrous portions as indicator for childhood
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Authors’ addresses:
Christophe Snoeck
Maritime Cultures Research Institute
Department of Art Sciences & Archaeology
Vrije Universiteit Brussel
2, Pleinlaan
1050 Brussels, Belgium
Christophe.Snoeck@vub.be
Kevin SaL eSS e
Research Unit: Anthropology
and Human Genetics
Department of Biology of
Organisms and Ecology
Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB)
CP 192
50, avenue F. D. Roosevelt
1050 Brussels, Belgium
Kevin.Salesse@ulb.be
Rica annaert
Marta HL a D
Ioannis ko n to p o u L oS
Elisavet Sta M a ta k i
Barbara veSeL k a
Dries ty S
Maritime Cultures Research Institute
Department of Art Sciences & Archaeology
Vrije Universiteit Brussel
2, Pleinlaan
1050 Brussels, Belgium
Henrica.Annaert@vub.be
Marta.Hlad@vub.be
Ioannis.Kontopoulos@vub.be
Elisavet.Stamataki@vub.be
barbaraveselka@gmail.com
Dries.Tys@vub.be
Mathieu BouDin
Royal Institute for Cultural Heritage
Jubelpark, 1
1000 Brussels, Belgium
Mathieu.Boudin@kikirpa.be
giaco M o ca p uz zo
Amanda SengeLøv
Martine vercau teren
Research Unit: Anthropology
and Human Genetics
Department of Biology of
Organisms and Ecology
Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB)
CP 192
avenue F. D. Roosevelt, 50
1050 Brussels, Belgium
Martine.Vercauteren@ulb.ac.be
Giacomo.Capuzzo@ulb.ac.be
Amanda.Sengelov@ulb.ac.be
Martine.Vercauteren@ulb.ac.be
Sarah DaLL e
Guy De MuLDe r
Charlotte SaBau
Department of Archaeology
Ghent University
Sint-Pietersnieuwstraat, 35
9000 Ghent, Belgium
Sarah.Dalle@ugent.be
Guy.DeMulder@ugent.be
Charlotte.Sabaux@ugent.be
Eugène Wa r M e nB o L
Centre de Recherches en
Archéologie et Patrimoine
Department of History
Arts, and Archaeology
Université Libre de Bruxelles (ULB)
CP 133
avenue F. D. Roosevelt, 50
1050 Brussels, Belgium
Eugene.Warmenbol@ulb.ac.be