When do bones melt

Share this post. Fire is a very destructive force, capable of great damage. Burned human remains can be found in a range of situations, from archaeological funerary urns, to aeroplane crashes, to volcanic eruptions, to modern cremations. In fact, in many ways the changes we see due to fire are the same as normal diagenesis over time — just a lot quicker.

Even within modern crematoria, which burn efficiently and at high temperatures, the skeleton will survive. The skeletal remains are then raked from the cremator and the remains placed in a machine known as a cremulator, which grinds the bones into ash.

Want to keep learning? This content is taken from Durham University online course,. This content is taken from Durham University online course. See other articles from this course. The body is prepared by removing pacemakers, which can explode in the heat, prostheses and silicone implants.

Radioactive "cancer seeds" -- injectable or implantable radioactive isotopes used to treat several types of cancer -- are also on the removal list. The body is then put into a container or casket made out of flammable materials such as plywood, pine or cardboard. In some countries, workers remove other external items such as jewelry or glasses, while other countries prohibit workers from doing so.

When the incinerator is preheated to about 1, degrees Fahrenheit degrees Celsius , the mechanized doors are opened and the container slips quickly from a rack of rolling metal pins into the primary cremating chamber, also referred to as a retort. Sometimes family members can watch the cremation from a window, or, in cases such as Hindu cremations, a family member can "start" the fire by pressing a button.

Once the door is sealed, the body is subjected to a jet-enginelike column of flame, aimed at the torso. The heat ignites the container and dries the body, which is composed of 75 percent water. One section remained unburned and the rest were burned at , and degrees C. A few samples were burned also at the temperature of degrees C. The undecalcified unstained ground cross-sections were made from burned and unburned bones; photographed and analysed using the SigmaScan Pro 5 programme.

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