Recovery Methods for Cremated Commingled Remains: Analysis and Interpretation of Small Fragments Using a Bioarchaeological Approach

When confronted with buried, cremated, and commingled skeletal remains, forensic anthropologists are often limited in their analyses and interpretation by the lack of systematic training in field identification and recovery methods. Recent bioarchaeological methods have developed tools to optimize data gathering in the field that can be implemented in forensic investigations.This chapter addresses basic points regarding identification, recovery, and recording of small cremated fragments in their field context. We also present a GIS approach to analyze the spatial distribution of the cremated remains in order to identify some of the fire's characteristics, such as its origin and spread patterns within the deposit.