La naturaleza del hueso y su fosilización. La Tafonomía para el estudio del estado de conservación del hueso arqueológico y paleontológico

Abstract

Bone is a frequent material in cultural heritage collections, and especially on archaeological and paleontological collections. A correct diagnosis of the state of conservation is crucial, however, the characteristic of these bones and the kind of transformations during the burial time is not well extended in conservation studies. The lack of works leads to expose the bone as an exclusively organic material, but this interpretation occasionally is not quite accurate. Taphonomy is the discipline that describes the agents, processes, and effects related to the formation of an archaeological or paleontological bone until its discovery. All these processes transform the physiochemical properties of these bones which is crucial for the study of their conservation and restoration. This work describes several characteristics of the bones, the modifying factors, and decaying mechanisms with the aim of exposing an accurate approach of nature, state of conservation which allows adapting the conservation treatments on these materials.