Righello colorimetrico osso combusto UniTO

The color of burnt bone is inevitably related to the temperature(s) to which it was exposed, and it should be possible to estimate exposure temperature based on visual observation of these colors. Heated and burnt bone color changes have been, in fact, analyzed by several researchers and they vary from ivory white, to brown and black, with different shades of grey and chalky white. However, a colorimetric scale has never been yet proposed, as photographic color reproduction is unreliable and depends on several factors, like camera, lighting, printer, and photo-editing color calibration. Nevertheless, this paper proposes a patented colorimetric scale with calibrated colors of burnt bone colors at different temperatures: unburned, 200°C; 400°C; 600°C; 800°C; 1000°C; 1100°C, based on the existing published data as a visual aid for maximum temperature estimation. Authors are aware that it is difficult to estimate the correct temperature range based solely on colors. For this reason, the proposed tool should be used with caution along with other findings and observations in order to prevent misjudgments.