The comprehensive study of cremations in the 1st century bc - 2nd century ad from the burial vaults of the eastern necropolis in Phanagoria

The paper contains preliminary results of the comprehensive bioarchaeological study of the cremations dating back to 1st century BC - 2nd century AD which were discovered in the burial vaults of Eastern Necropolis in Phanagoria. Key characteristics of the cremated remains are compared with the cremation data from necropolises of Western and Southern Europe. This analysis helped identify main characteristics of the general Roman tradition of cremating the deceased practiced by the urban population of the Asian Bosporus capital. Besides, chemical analysis of the composition of the ‘burns' on the bones of the studied series was performed. This analysis demonstrated that such anomalies on the remains represent traces of the contact with ceramic items during cremation. The Sr isotope analysis suggested low mobility of the individuals examined.