| The Premice... |
Burning changes bone. The questions that we are asking are (1) how, (2) to what extent, and (3) how does this affect our attempts to identify burned individuals. Tim and his colleagues have been using an innovative suite of techniques to investigate this problem and have produced a number of important publications.
Burning affects the shape and size of bones. Anthropological techniques of identification rely on unmodified bone dimensions to succeed accurately. Therefore, recent research has looked into the degree of dimensional change as a precursor to predicting the inevitable change in bone due to fire.
Tim is currently doing research with burned bone with the University of Sassari in Italy.
Piga, G., Thompson, T.J.U., Malgosa, A., Enzo, S. (2009) The potential of X-ray Diffraction (XRD) in the analysis of burned remains from forensic contexts. Journal of Forensic Sciences 54(3): 534-539.
Thompson, T.J.U., Gauthier, M. and Islam, M. (2009) The application of a new method of Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy to the analysis of burned bone. Journal of Archaeological Science 36(3): 910-914.
Piga, G., Malgosa, A., Thompson, T.J.U. and Enzo, S. (2008) A new calibration of the XRD technique for the study of archaeological burned human remains. Journal of Archaeological Sciences 35(8): 2171-2178.
Thompson, T.J.U. and Chudek, J.A. (2007) A novel approach to the visualisation of heat-induced structural change in bone. Science & Justice 47(2): 99-104.
Thompson, T.J.U. (2005) Heat-induced dimensional changes in bone and their consequences for forensic anthropology. Journal of Forensic Sciences 50(5): 1008-1015.
Thompson, T.J.U. (2004). Recent advances in the study of burned bone and their implications for forensic anthropology. Forensic Science International 146S: S203–S205.
Hiller, J., Thompson, T.J.U., Evison, M.P., Chamberlain, A.T. and Wess, T.J. (2003) Bone mineral change during experimental heating: An X-ray scattering investigation. Biomaterials 24(28): 5091-5097.
Thompson, T.J.U. (2002) The assessment of sex in cremated individuals: Some cautionary notes. Canadian Society of Forensic Science Journal 35(2): 49-56.