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Vertebrate Taphonomy in Archaeological Research

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Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology

Introduction

Broadly applied, taphonomy is the study of what happens to objects after they leave the biosphere (living contexts), enter the lithosphere (buried contexts), and are subsequently recovered and studied. Taphonomy is of interest to any scientific discipline that investigates the buried record, including archaeology, paleobiology, paleontology, and soil sciences. Although the methodological framework of taphonomy can be applied to the study of practically any kind of material that was once buried, including ceramics and lithics, its archaeological application usually involves the study of preserved organic residues. Vertebrate taphonomy is further restricted to the study of preserved skeletal specimens that originate from a subphylum of animals who share a number of characteristics but importantly possess a living endoskeleton of cartilage and bone. These consist of specimens from zoological classes of living jawed vertebrates that are often recovered through archaeological...

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Further Reading

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Anthropology, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC, Canada

    Peter W. Stahl

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  1. Peter W. Stahl
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Correspondence to Peter W. Stahl .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Archaeology, Flinders University, Adelaide, SA, Australia

    Claire Smith

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Stahl, P.W. (2014). Vertebrate Taphonomy in Archaeological Research. In: Smith, C. (eds) Encyclopedia of Global Archaeology. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0465-2_2134

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4419-0465-2_2134

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