Bone Degradation, Burial Medium and Species Representation: Debunking the Myths, an Experiment-based Approach

This paper investigates the process of diagenesis in mammal, bird and fish bone after burial of fresh and freshly cooked specimens in selected soil types for 7 years. Almost all soft tissue had disappeared, but fur, feathers and hoof survived in acidic soil. Examination revealed that the rate of bone loss and modification could not be simply related to soil pH and/or inferred Eh; very different bone preservation occurred in geographically adjacent soils of similar pH and drainage. Bone modification also varied greatly between animals of similar size, with bird bone appearing to be particularly resilient. The state of the remains prior to burial was critically important. While boiling clearly accelerated diagenesis, other forms of cooking did not appear to have this effect. The role of micro-organisms in the degradation process is addressed. It is suggested that routine methods of bone quantification may be inappropriate for such diagenetically altered assemblages.