Macroscopic and histological analyses of cremated remains from the Imperial Roman necropolis of La Cona (1st cent. BCE-1st cent. CE, Teramo, Italy)

Abstract

Cremation was one of the most widespread funerary practices between the Bronze Age and Late Antiquity in Mediterranean societies. Despite its archaeological relevance, the analysis of cremated human remains has long been limited by extensive thermal alteration, which hampers the reconstruction of individuals’ biological profiles. However, in recent years, renewed methodological attention has highlighted the potential of cremated remains to yield reliable bioarchaeological information. In this study, we apply an integrated macro- and microscopic approach to the analysis of 26 cremations from the Imperial Roman necropolis of La Cona (central Italy). Macroscopic examination was combined with bone histology to discriminate human from non-human bone fragments, assess heat-induced taphonomic alterations at the microstructural level, and estimate age at death through histomorphometric parameters. Although the sample size is necessarily limited by preservation and selection constraints, the results demonstrate the effectiveness of histological analysis for improving taxonomic attribution and refining age-at-death estimation in cremated assemblages. More broadly, this study highlights the methodological value of integrating macroscopic and microscopic evidence for the bioarchaeological investigation of Roman-period cremations.