Atlas of Taphonomic Identifications

Abstract

The object of this work is to provide sets of images of taphonomic modifications of vertebrate bones during their preservation in the archaeological and fossil record. The correct identification of taphonomic modifications is the first step in understanding the processes by which they are formed and the agents behind the processes (Weigelt 1927). The book is arranged according to the observable traits of the modifications (following the “systematic classification” proposed by Fernández-López 1981, 1991). This facilitates comparisons of taphonomic modifications, so that each modification produced by one process or agent can be compared with similar modifications produced by other processes and agents. Modifications are what are actually observed on recent and fossil bones, and modern simulations can reconstruct the processes by which they are formed. The third step is identification of the agent responsible. Thus, the modification of a rodent tooth showing the enamel partly dissolved away has undergone a process of solution which may be due to enzyme or acid attack; distinguishing the actual process requires experimentation to show which it is; and finally the agent responsible for the process can again be estimated by experimental work, comparing corrosive forces such as animal or bird digestion, soil corrosion or physical breakage. In order to keep the book to a manageable size and yet illustrate it with high-quality images, we have opted for a minimum of text and text figures to organize the taphonomic modifications described and displayed here. We do not aim to update the literature published on vertebrate taphonomy. Many scientific papers have tackled specific taphonomic problems, and there are comprehensive books such as those of Shipman (1981), Brain (1981), Binford (1981), Lyman (1994a), Pickering et al. (2004), and Bell (2012) which describe and summarize the literature on vertebrate taphonomy. We aim here to show a broad range of images of most aspects of vertebrate taphonomy with identifications of causality which are largely the product of our own research, based on complete taphonomic analyses of a given site, long term field monitoring and experimental work. The text outlines the different modifications, processes and agents important in vertebrate taphonomy. Modifications are illustrated at the end of each chapter as Atlas images, and the essential parts of the book are the comparisons between images displayed in high resolution. Finally, the authors emphasize that taphonomic modifications increase the information of the past encoded in fossils. Taphonomic modifications are not a loss of paleobiological information, but the evidence of durability of fossils (Fernández-López, 1991).

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