Developing and Validating Regional Taphonomic Standards for the Recovery and Interpretation of Skeletal Remains in Outdoor Settings

The goal of this project is to develop regional standards for taphonomic data collection and interpretation to be used by forensic anthropologists in the recovery, examination, and interpretation of human skeletal remains. Such regional models are necessary in order to correctly interpret taphonomic (postmortem) change, estimate time since death, interpret cadaver dog searches, and discriminate taphonomic change from trauma. Under the continuation phase, the researchers will test model and assessment tools with new forensic cases, continue to review and test with K-9 trials and pig cadavers and disseminate the results of the project.

ca/ncf