Finding Solace: Recovering Human Cremations from the Ashes of a Firestorm
Author(s): Michael Newland; Alex DeGeorgey; Lynne Englebert; Adela Morris
Year: 2019
Summary
This is an abstract from the "SAA 2019: General Sessions" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.
On October 9, 2017, a firestorm swept through northern California. Eventually reaching over 180,000-acres, the wildfire destroyed more than 8,400 buildings and killed 42 people. Thousands of families lost their homes and all their possessions. In many instances, the cremated remains of previously deceased family members were stored in urns within the home. A canine forensic team and volunteer crew of archaeologists banded together in an attempt to recover cremains lost during the firestorm. This paper tells the story of our recovery effort and describes how archaeology can be used to help those affected by natural disaster.
Cite this Record
Finding Solace: Recovering Human Cremations from the Ashes of a Firestorm. Michael Newland, Alex DeGeorgey, Lynne Englebert, Adela Morris. Presented at The 84th Annual Meeting of the Society for American Archaeology, Albuquerque, NM. 2019 ( tDAR id: 449654)
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Keywords
Geographic Keywords
North America: California and Great Basin
Spatial Coverage
min long: -124.189; min lat: 31.803 ; max long: -105.469; max lat: 43.58 ;
Record Identifiers
Abstract Id(s): 22847