Let’s Shed Some Light: Computed Tomography and GIS in Bioarchaeological Analysis of Funerary Urns from Los Tamarindos Cemetery, Tierra Caliente, Michoacán

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Looking to the West: New insights into Postclassic Archaeology in Michoacán" session, at the 89th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Spatial distribution and relations between the osteological material and grave and/or pyre goods within cremation funerary urns are crucial aspects of the bioarchaeological analysis of cremation burials. Through meticulous examination of material distribution, valuable insights can be gleaned regarding the behavior of mourners—shedding light not only on how the remains were collected and placed into the grave but also on postdepositional processes that significantly influence the preservation of archaeological and osteological material. In recent years, noninvasive documentation methods such as computed tomography (CT) have gained prominence in the study of cremation burial practices. Despite the great potential of this method, we note limitations that do not allow us to fully understand the cremation burial rite without exploration of the funerary urns. We studied cremation burials from the Los Tamarindos cemetery, Tierra Caliente, Michoacan, documenting the spatial distribution of the material via CT images. In this presentation, we propose integrating geographic information systems (GIS) to enhance imaging and spatial analysis, offering transparent results and precise data presentation.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Looking to the West: New insights into Postclassic Archaeology in Michoacán   •
• Society for American Archaeology 89th Annual Meeting, New Orleans, LA (2024)

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 38137.0