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History vocabulary · Archaeology Basics

Taphonomy

Meaning in history, with examples

nounAdvanced term

In history, taphonomy means: The study of processes affecting remains from death or discard through deposition to recovery.

In Turkish: tafonomi

How it is used

Use to investigate preservation, movement and alteration; what survives need not mirror the original deposit.

Example sentences

  1. Taphonomy helped distinguish animal gnawing from human cut marks.

    Different processes can leave superficially similar traces.

  2. The study of taphonomy explained why small bones were scarce.

    Preservation can shape apparent frequencies in the recovered material.

Common collocations

  • taphonomic processes
  • taphonomic analysis
  • archaeologyThe study of the human past through the material remains people left behind, such as buildings, tools, pottery, bones and traces in the soil.
  • evidenceInformation from sources, objects or data that helps show whether a claim about the past is true, or how likely it is.

More terms: Archaeology Basics

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