ANTHROP 3FA3 Chapter Notes - Chapter 5: Livor Mortis, Taphonomy, Bog
14 Sep 2016
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Taphonomy: the laws of burial, derived from the greek taphos meaning burial and onomy, meaning law. The term was first coined by ivan efremov, a russian paleontologist and science fiction author in the 1940s, in order to explain the process of transition of animal remains from the biosphere into the lithosphere. Taphonomy is now understood to refer to the study of everything that happens to biological organism from the time of death to the time of discovery. An understanding of taphonomy helps to reconstruct and interpret the events associated with the deposition, dispersion and modification of human remains. In a medicolegal context, the term forensic taphonomy refers to the study of post-mortem processes which affect the preservation and recovery of human remains, which helps in reconstructing the circumstances surrounding the death event. Forensic taphonomy is essentially the study and interpretation of post-mortem modifications to the body.
