Preservational |
General state of remains (excellent, good, fair, or poor) |
Cortical erosion/exposure of cancellous bone |
Cortical exfoliation (bone loss in thin, spalling layers) |
Postmortem breakage |
Perimortem breakage/fragmentation or trauma |
Rounding (erosion/tumbling in an abrasive environment) |
Decalcified |
Postmortem cracking of desiccated tooth enamel |
Incidental surface striations/scratches |
Soil surface exposure |
Surface cracking/longitudinal splitting from drying of waterlogged bone |
Weathering (bleaching and cracking; sensu Behrensmeyer) |
Mineral deposition |
Copper (green), iron (red), calcium (white), manganese (black), or other mineral oxide staining |
Vivianite formation |
Concretion |
Water staining (presence of a water line from mineral deposits, colour differential line) |
Mechanical |
Excavation damage |
Micro-abrasion |
Soil/burial substrate |
General soil staining |
Warping/flattening of elements (especially the cranial vault) |
Crushing/compaction from overburden |
Adhering/infiltrating sediments |
Faunal |
Adhering fauna |
Carnivore puncture and gnawing |
Gastric corrosion, winnowing, or windowing of bone |
Rodent gnawing |
Invertebrate surface modification and damage |