Introduction
Classical Taphonomy
Traditionally, taphonomy was studied by paleontologists to interpret the processes that operate on organic remains that comprise a part of the fossil record. A major focus of taphonomy was to understand the effects of those processes in order to reconstruct the past as it pertains to a particular fossil assemblage (Shipman 1981). Years later, archaeologists began to study taphonomy in order to determine how and why floral and faunal remain accumulated and differentially preserved within the archaeological record. Interpretation of the postmortem, pre-, and post-burial histories of faunal assemblages is critical in determining their association with hominid activity and behavior. Archaeologists typically separate natural from cultural processes when identifying evidence of human interaction with faunal remains (Lyman 1994).
Various models of fossil assemblage formation have been proposed, depicting a general taphonomic history. The taphonomic history...
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References
Allison, P.A. 1990. Decay processes. In Paleobiology: A synthesis, ed. D.E.G. Briggs and P.R. Crowther, 213–216. Oxford: Blackwell Science Ltd.
Allison, P.A., and D.J. Bottjer. 2010. Taphonomy: Bias and process through time. In Taphonomy second edition: Process and bias through time. volume 32: Topics in geobiology, ed. P.A. Allison and D.J. Bottjer, 1–18. New York: Springer.
Allison, P.A., and D.E.G. Briggs. 1991. Taphonomy: Releasing the data locked in the fossil record. New York: Plenum.
Behrensmeyer, A.K. 1978. Taphonomic and ecologic information from bone weathering. Paleobiology 4: 150–162.
Behrensmeyer, A.K., and S.M. Kidwell. 1985. Taphonomy’s contribution to paleobiology. Paleobiology 11: 105–119.
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Brett, C.E. 1990. Destructive taphonomic processes and skeletal durability. In Paleobiology: A synthesis, ed. D.E.G. Briggs and P.R. Crowther, 223–226. Oxford: Blackwell Science Ltd.
Efremov, I.A. 1940. Taphonomy: A new branch of paleontology. Pan-American Geologist 74: 81–93.
Forbes, S.L. 2017. Body farms. Forensic Sci Med Pathol. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12024-017-9924-z. Published online 25 September 2017.
Haglund, W.D., and M.H. Sorg. 1997. Introduction to forensic taphonomy. In Forensic taphonomy: The postmortem fate of human remains, ed. W.D. Haglund and M.H. Sorg, 77–90. Boca Raton: CRC Press.
Lyman, R.L. 1994. Vertebrate taphonomy, Cambridge manuals in archaeology series. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Marshall, L.G. 1989. Bone modification and “the laws of burial”. In Bone modification, ed. R. Bonnichsen and M.H. Sorg, 7–24. Orono: Center for the Study of First Americans.
Martin, R.E. 1999. Taphonomy: A process approach, Cambridge paleobiology series. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Micozzi, M.S. 1991. Postmortem change in human and animal remains: A systematic approach. Springfield: Charles C. Thomas.
Olson, E.C. 1980. Taphonomy: Its history and role in community evolution. In Fossils in the making: Vertebrate taphonomy and paleoecology, ed. A.K. Behrensmeyer and A.P. Hill, 5–19. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Schotsmans, E.M.J., N. Marquez-Grant, and S.L. Forbes. 2017. Taphonomy of human remains: Forensic analysis of the dead and depositional environment. Oxford: Wiley.
Shipman, P. 1981. Life history of a fossil: An introduction to taphonomy and paleoecology. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Ubelaker, D.H. 1997. Taphonomic applications in forensic anthropology. In Forensic taphonomy: The postmortem fate of human remains, ed. W.D. Haglund and M.H. Sorg, 77–90. Boca Raton: CRC Press.
Vidoli, G.M., D.W. Steadman, J.B. Devlin, and L.M. Jantz. 2017. History and development of the first anthropology research facility, Knoxville, Tennessee. In Taphonomy of human remains: Forensic analysis of the dead and the depositional environment, ed. E.M.J. Schotsmans, M. Marquez-Grant, and S.L. Forbes, 606–621. Oxford: Wiley.
Further Reading
Behrensmeyer, A.K., and A.P. Hill. 1980. Fossils in the making: Vertebrate taphonomy and paleoecology. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Donovan, S.K. 1991. The process of fossilization. New York: Columbia University Press.
Gifford, D.P. 1981. Taphonomy and paleoecology: A critical review of archaeology’s sister discipline. In Advances in archaeological method and theory, ed. M.B. Schiffer, vol. 4, 365–438. New York: Academic.
Haglund, W.D., and M.H. Sorg. 1997. Advances in forensic taphonomy: Method, theory, and archaeological perspectives. Boca Raton: CRC Press.
Pokines, J.T., S.A. Symes, and C. Roper. 2013. Manual of forensic taphonomy. Boca Raton: CRC Press.
Tibbett, M., and D.O. Carter. 2008. Soil analysis in forensic taphonomy: Chemical and biological effects of buried human remains. Boca Raton: CRC Press.
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Forbes, S. (2018). Taphonomy in Bioarchaeology and Human Osteology. In: Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-51726-1_137-2
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