1995/02/01 by A.M. Child, Angela M. Child · 4 citations
Arts and Humanities · Earth and Planetary Sciences · Social Sciences · #Archaeology and ancient environmental studies #Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies #Pleistocene-Era Hominins and Archaeology
paper · doi:10.1179/sic.1995.40.1.19
crossref issued 1995/02/01 · crossref published 1995/02/01 · crossref published-print 1995/02/01 · openalex publication_date 1995/02/01 · crossref published-online 2013/07/19 · crossref created 2014/01/09 · crossref deposited 2022/03/22 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/31 · crossref indexed 2026/07/31
Taphonomy is the study of all changes that occur within an animal or plant following death. Bone is the predominant material of animal origin to survive within the archaeological environment. It is the source of a wealth of information concerning the relationships, diets, disease and ages of people (and animals) in past cultures. For this information to be extracted and interpreted, there is a need for conservators and archaeological scientists to be aware of the processes of taphonomic change which may occur in bone. These changes are legion; this paper attempts to define some of the major changes seen in bone which may be attributable to the various actions of microorganisms.