Forensic Taphonomy

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Forensic Taphonomy

• By Corey Colburn

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What is Forensic Taphonomy

• Taphonomy is the study of the processes that
  affect the decomposition, dispersal, erosion,
  burial, and re-exposure of organisms after, at,
  and even before death.
• It is the study of the fate of human remains.
• Forensic Taphonomy is a subfield of forensic
  anthropology.
• There are two branches of forensic taphonomy
  which are biotaphonomy and geotaphonomy.

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Biotaphonomy

• Biotaphonomy examines the remains themselves and
  asks how decomposition and destruction of the
  hard and soft tissue was brought about.
• Biotaphonomic variables can be subdivided for
  convenience in to three broad categories
  Environmental factors, Individual factors, and
  Cultural factors.

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Geotaphonomy

• Geotaphonomy is the study of how someone who
  buries a body, and how the body itself affects
  the surrounding geological and botanical
  environment.