Dictionary

taphonomy en · NOUN

Pronunciation

• /tæˈfɒnəmi/
• (Southern-England) audio

Etymology

Etymology tree Ancient Greek θᾰ́πτω (thắptō) Proto-Indo-European *-os Proto-Hellenic *-os Ancient Greek -ος (-os) Ancient Greek τάφος (táphos)der. Proto-Indo-European *nem-der. Proto-Indo-European *németi Proto-Hellenic *némō Ancient Greek νέμω (némō) ▲ Proto-Hellenic *-os Ancient Greek -ος (-os) Ancient Greek νόμος (nómos) Proto-Indo-European *-h₂ Proto-Indo-European *-éh₂ Proto-Indo-European *-i-eh₂ Proto-Hellenic *-íā Ancient Greek -ῐ́ᾱ (-ĭ́ā) Latin -nomialbor. French -nomiebor. ▲ Latin -nomialbor. English -nomy English taphonomy From tapho- (from Ancient Greek τάφος (táphos, “grave”)) + -nomy.

Meanings

1. (countable, uncountable) The study of the fate of the remains of organisms after they die, especially the study of fossilization.
   • Whilst there is some credit in distinguishing between taphonomies for thick-shelled forms and thin-shelled forms in shallower facies, these forms occur in both phacopids and homalonotids. 2005, Memoirs of Museum Victoria, Volume 62, Museums Board of Victoria, page 10:
   • Some cases may have an innocent explanation based in taphonomy, the processes by which bodies are preserved over long spans of time. 2011, Steven Pinker, The Better Angels of Our Nature, Penguin, published 2012, page 4:
   • These characteristics are also applicable in forensic taphonomy. In contrast to our approach here, Buikstra and Ubelaker place "premortem and perimortem fractures, wounds, and abrasions" (p. 106) in the chapter on paleopathology, thus separating perimortem trauma from taphonomy. 2002, Marcella H. Sorg, William D. Haglund, “1: Advancing Forensic Taphonomy: Purpose, Theory, and Process”, in William D. Haglund, Marcella H. Sorg, editors, Advances in Forensic Taphonomy, CRC Press, page 11:

Forms

Deriveds

microtaphonomy · macrotaphonomy · isotaphonomy · histotaphonomy

Relateds

taphonomist · taphology · taphotype · taphozone · taphonomic

Translations (12)

cmn 埋藏學 /埋藏学 (the study of the fate of the remains of organisms after death) · fi tafonomia (the study of the fate of the remains of organisms after death) · kk тафономия (the study of the fate of the remains of organisms after death) · ru тафоно́мия (the study of the fate of the remains of organisms after death) · es tafonomía (the study of the fate of the remains of organisms after death) · de Taphonomie (the study of the fate of the remains of organisms after death) · fr taphonomie (the study of the fate of the remains of organisms after death) · sh tafonomija (the study of the fate of the remains of organisms after death) · ca tafonomia (the study of the fate of the remains of organisms after death) · sv tafonomi (the study of the fate of the remains of organisms after death) · it tafonomia (the study of the fate of the remains of organisms after death) · cmn 化石形成學 /化石形成学 (the study of the fate of the remains of organisms after death)