1. Forensic Taphonomy By: Corey Colburn

2. 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.

3. 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.

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