Logo image
Back
Foraminifera – A new find in the microtaphonomical characterisation of bones from marine archaeological excavations
Journal article   Peer reviewed

Foraminifera – A new find in the microtaphonomical characterisation of bones from marine archaeological excavations

E.E. Guareschi, D.W. Haig, S.S. Tobe, P.K. Nicholls and P.A. Magni
International Journal of Osteoarchaeology, Vol.31(6), pp.1270-1275
2021
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/oa.3013
url
Link to Published Version *Subscription may be requiredView

Abstract

Foraminifera are marine single-celled organisms, ubiquitous in marine environments, present in brackish waters and absent in terrestrial locations. Their presence has been associated with archaeological and forensic studies only rarely, and just once and superficially with bones of terrestrial mammals. In this study, a new association is presented between foraminifera enclosed in the dissolving trabecular spaces of terrestrial mammalian bones, recovered in underwater archaeological excavations between 1968 and 1980. Research on the new association aims to detail the micro-characterization of bone in underwater environments, leading to a better understanding of bone taphonomic trajectories, the chronological sequences of changes occurring between death and the incorporation of the remains of an organism within the depositional environment. The analysis of taphonomic trajectories is known to hold relevance in distinct disciplines, such as archaeology, palaeontology and forensic sciences. Different foraminiferal taxa are linked to different marine environments, characterized by specific ranges of water depth, amount of light and oxygen, temperature and composition of sediment. The association between foraminifera and terrestrial mammalian bones indicates deposition in a marine or brackish environment, thus the analysis of the specific ecology of the identified foraminiferal taxa can point to a specific environment, adding information to paleontological, archaeological or forensics casework.

Details

Metrics

101 Record Views
6 Times Cited - Web of Science

InCites Highlights

These are selected metrics from InCites Benchmarking & Analytics tool, related to this output

Collaboration types
Domestic collaboration
International collaboration
Citation topics
8 Earth Sciences
8.93 Archaeology
8.93.1193 Stable Isotopes
Web Of Science research areas
Anthropology
Archaeology
ESI research areas
Social Sciences, general
Logo image