The Relationship between Bone and Ash Weight to Age, Body Weight and Body Length of Thai Adults after Cremation
Thamrong Chirachariyavej MD, PhD*, Chinawatt Amnueypol MSc**, Seetala Sanggarnjanavanich DDS, MSc***, Montip Tiensuwan PhD**
Affiliation : * Department of Pathology, Faculty of Medicine, Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University ** Faculty of Science, Mahidol University ***Dental Unit, Faculty of Medicine, Ramathibodi Hospital, Mahidol University
Background : Cremation is the most common Thai funeral mode. In Thailand, there have not been any previous
reports of bone and ash weight after cremation.
Objective : Collect the bone and ash weight after the cremation and find the variables that affected the bone
and ash weight.
Materials and Methods : One hundred and ten samples, including fifty-five males and fifty-five females, were
collected from the Thai population. A Thai crematorium (Series Tiger 1) that could produce a temperature of
approximately 850(cid:31)C-1,200(cid:31)C was employed. It took about 1-1.5 hours to complete the incineration.
Results : The average bone and ash weight of the males was 2.68 kg with SD 1.41; female was 2.12 with SD
1.25; and total was 2.40 with SD 1.36. The present study supported that age and body weight affected the bone
and ash weight while the body length (height) did not. The fitted equation was y = 1.969 – 0.01846 (age) +
0.03087 (body weight), where y = predicted bone and ash weight.
Conclusion : The present study shows that age and body weight affected the bone and ash weight. From this
information, the authors could find the predicted value of either age or body weight. If the authors would like
to find the age, the authors can employ the fittest equation y = 76.097 – 3.219 (Bone and ash weight) where
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y = predicted age. Additionally, if the authors would like to find the body weight, we can employ the fittest
equation = 51.930 + 1.673 (Bone and ash weight) where y = predicted body weight.
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Keywords : Cremation, Incineartion, Bone, Ash weight
