Vers une fouille « idéale » ?

Abstract

By examining a deposit of human buried or burnt bones with computed tomography (CT), archaeologists highlight the possibilities of a useful overview before micro-excavation, of using them as a guidance, of detecting almost imperceptible remains and of preserving brittle artefacts. The non-invasive nature of the observations is also mentioned, in particular the reassuring possibility of being able to come back to the deposit thanks to the preservation of a digital 3D copy. The micro-excavation as careful it is, reflects only what is understood from the remains at a given time. Moreover, the excavator inevitably destroys part of the documentary when he dismantles the bones and associated goods. One would ordinarily come to think that acquiring CT images is an alternative to tangible excavating. Without slipping into this simplistic perception, the object of this present work relates to the respective contribution of the two documentary sources and their interaction.

Keywords

• funeral archaeology
• deposition
• human bones
• burial gestures
• internal structure
• micro-excavation