Cremation at the pyre: time and nature of destruction of the human body

Abstract

Introduction. Сomparative data from modern crematoria or experimental cremations of animal carcasses are often used to reconstruct the process of ancient cremations, although this data is not relevant. The goals of this study are to measure the duration of complete body burning; to analyze correlation between the body length and constitution and the body burning duration: to identify general patterns of body destruction process during cremation on a pyre.

Materials and methods. The materials (166 observations of cremations: 96 male, 56 female, 14 of unknown gender) were obtained during the Russian-Indian anthropological expedition of the Paleoethnology Research Center and the State Biology Museum in 2018, 2019 and 2022. The duration of complete incineration of soft tissues was recorded, as well as the body size and the constitution, using three-point assessment scales. In addition, the composition and condition of the cremated bone remains were described. To analyze the differences between samples of individuals with different body sizes and constitution, bivariate graphs and statistical criteria for assessing the differences were used.

Results and discussion. The average time of human body burning during cremation on a pyre was determined. A positive correlation between the duration of cremation and the body size and mesomorphy was found, and a negative correlation between the duration of cremation and ecto- and endomorphy was found. This pattern can be explained by the fact that significant volumes of soft tissues (especially poorly burning muscle tissue) require more time to burn; the predominance of adipose tissue contributes to faster body combustion. The proximal epiphyses of the tibia, distal epiphyses of the femur and vertebral bodies, as well as fragments of the integumentary bones of the skull and diaphyses of the femur, tibia and fibula are best preserved during cremation. The influence of the pyre design and the cremator's activity on the nature of body destruction was noted.

Conclusion. The hypothetical assumption of a positive correlation between body size and the time of its combustion was confirmed empirically. Numerous data on the time required for the complete destruction of soft tissue during cremation on a pyre have been introduced into scholarly discourse. © 2025. This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 license

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