Human, all too human: differentiating non-human from human bones in protohistoric cremation contexts from northern Italy

Differentiating cremated non-human bones from human ones in archaeological contexts is a
challenging task. This analysis aims at proposing a rather solid criterion based on an osteoarchaeological sample. In this work, the main issues of taxonomic identification of cremated remains are analysed
and a research methodology tested on an Italian protohistoric sample is proposed. The 314 subjects
composing the sample come from 298 tombs of the Golasecca Civilization (1st millennium BC in
north-eastern Italy). On a morphological basis, 246 bone fragments were selected from which as many
thin sections were obtained for a histomorphological evaluation. From the analyses, we identified
the presence of animals in burials, whereas a mere morphometric analysis was not able to recognize
them. Furthermore, the taxonomic identification has allowed us to propose new hypotheses on the
funerary rite of Golasecca linked to the zooarchaeological remains.