Analisi tafonomica dei resti inumati nella necropoli nord-occidentale di Nora: archeotanatologia e archeologia virtuale

Taphonomic analysis of human skeletal remains is one of the primary sources that archaeology benefits from to investigate funerary practices and the treatment of the body of the deceased in ancient human populations. Although born as a field study, the taphonomy of human remains has increasingly become a laboratory discipline that is benefiting from the development of digital applications to archaeology. This paper aims to illustrate the case study of the north-western Phoenician and Punic necropolis of Nora (CA), discussing the application of digital IBM for the three-dimensional digitization of in situ human remains and its importance for the reconstruction of the taphonomy of burials and funerary customs. Evidence of primary and secondary burials - both in pits and hypogea - are attested at Nora within complex stratigraphic sequences. The application of taphonomic analysis in a digital environment, by merging gross identification of bone fragments with 3D visualization of the in situ context, allowed us for a reliable reconstruction of the deposition sequences, including the most complex situations presenting commingled skeletal remains.