Authors
Rashmi Sharma, Ashi Yadav
Abstract
Analysis of taphonomic change to human skeletal remains helps forensic anthropologists to estimate the time since death and evaluate whether the discovery location was the actual crime scene. This study examines taphonomic changes in bone staining, abrasions, completeness, and aquatic life activity observed within forensic anthropology. When analyzing taphonomic effects, it is often necessary to interpret several overlapping changes. Individual taphonomic effects can be separated from each other and follow the rules of relative timing, allowing earlier or later effects to be determined. The rules are similar to those used in archaeological and geological stratigraphy, from which the basic concepts of superposition and other physical relationships arise. Taphonomic effects can result from a number of processes associated with early stages (death, decomposition, and removal of fresh remains) or later stages (staining of bone surfaces, bone decay, and leaching of dry remains). The relative ordering of taphonomic effects on a set of remains can be used to reconstruct their post-mortem history and distinguish human activity, including trauma, from scavengers and other biological factors. Keywords: Forensic anthropology, skeletal remains, taphonomic effects, bone staining, biological factors, etc.
Introduction
The study of taphonomic focuses on events that occur to any creature between the moment of its demise and its discovery (Lyman and Lyman, 1994). Environmental, floral, and faunal phenomena as well as human intervention are examples of taphonomic factors. After death, taphonomic processes can change bone's appearance to the point where forensic investigators might not be able to spot evidence of criminal activity. For instance, the surface remains in fields with tall crops may accidentally be run over by farm equipment, resulting in crushing and sharp force trauma that could conceal previously present intentionally inflicted wounds. An identification during forensic investigations requires the accurate estimation of the time since death, the avoidance of injuries related to the death event (high-velocity gunshot, sharp force, or blunt force traumata), and the accurate assessment of in-life bone and dental changes. These factors can all be prevented by properly identifying after-death alterations to human remains (Chen, et al., 2011).
One of the most significant ethnographic organic materials is bone, which man used for a variety of functions in daily life, including practical as well as technological, and aesthetic ones. Inorganic calcium hydroxyapatite makes up the first of two components that make up bone (Angel, 2007), which makes up about 90% of its chemical makeup (O'Connor et al., 1984), and the organic portion, collagen, which makes up about 10% of its chemical makeup and is the principal building block of bone protein in the area where it is generated. The amino acids that make up collagen are arranged in interlocking chains (Veis and Sabsay, 1987). Bone mineral or calcium hydroxyapatite (Ca10 (PO4)6 (OH) 2) is the inorganic component of human and animal bone (Angel, 2007). Additionally, bone elements can be divided into two broad categories, which are macro elements (Ca, K, Mg, Na, O, and P) and microelements (C, Cu, Fe, Mg, Mn, Na, Se, Si, and Zn); the division of these two categories are based on concentrations in the skeletal parts (Mkukuma et al., 2004), Other elements commonly found in bones include Cl, Ni, and Sr, which can be categorized also as microelements (Calonius and Visapää, 1965). Although the inorganic mineral content (ca. 65%), the water content (ca. 10%), and the organic content (ca. 30%) of bone has been observed to vary among vertebrate skeletons, the elemental classifications are valid (Martin, 1999; Clarke, 2008; Feng, 2009).
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| APA Style | Sharma, Rashmi, and Ashi Yadav. “Evaluation of Taphonomic Changes to Bone.” Academic Journal of Anthropological Studies, vol. 5, no. 2, Oct. 2022, pp. 15–18. |
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