 |
 |
Thank you to everyone who replied to my email. It has been very useful, not least in confirming that elm is indeed very unusual in cremations at least in Britain, as I thought. I have concluded that the elm in the burial was probably a platform or coffin on the pyre and I think I have identified the main pyre fuel as Maloideae with some Prunus, oak and ash (which was the primary fill of the grave). The bulk of the elm came from the layer directly beneath the body. There were also two other Roman cremations - also poorly burned - which produced some elm charcoal, although these were burials rather than pyre sites so I was not able to carry out the spatial analysis. Given that elm does not make good firewood, I think this must be reposnsible for the partial burning of all three bodies. I hope to investigate the French burials which Isabel mentioned, containing elm, and hopefully further analyses on British burials in the future will enhance our understanding. Dana ---------------------------------------------- Dana Challinor MA (Oxon), MSc Freelance Charcoal Specialist ___________________________________________________________ Tiscali Unlimited Broadband with FREE weekend calls only 12.99! http://www.tiscali.co.uk/products/broadband/