Assessment of Structural Changes in Burned Bones Remains: The Role of Raman Spectroscopy †

Alberto Milani; Luigi Brambilla; Victor Hernandez Jolin; Cecilio Barroso; Cristina Capel Ferrón; José L. Zafra; Mirella Del Zoppo

doi:10.53941/ps.2026.100019

Abstract

The analysis of burned bones, both for archaeological or forensic purposes, can be highly informative of the history of these remains. For this reason, analytical tools are highly desirable. Among the most widely used techniques, vibrational spectroscopy plays an important role for the ease of application and the wealth of information it can provide. Both FTIR absorption and Raman scattering techniques can be used and several crystallinity-index-calculating methods have been proposed. In this work we show that Raman spectroscopy offers reliable crystallinity markers which yield results consistent with those obtained with IR. Moreover, Raman spectroscopy does not require complex or invasive sampling procedures and possibly enables “in situ” measurements thanks to the use of portable instruments.

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