Medicine
Taphonomic Signatures in Forensic Anthropological Analysis
Quick fact
Forensic anthropologists use taphonomic signatures to distinguish cut marks from postmortem animal gnawing, because cut marks show a different shape and micro-scarring than tooth marks.
Why this is interesting
What if a bone found in a forest could tell you the story of the crime—but also the story of the ants, the weather, and the soil? Taphonomy is the silent narrator of that story.