Kind of a Pig Deal: The Taphonomic Effects of Chemically Enhanced Fertilizer on Adult Pig Bones

Summary

This is an abstract from the "SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts" session, at the 88th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

Pig bones have historically been used as a proxy for human skeletal remains because of the similarities in cell structure and soft tissue texture. Using pig elements, and continuing the work of previously completed research on the taphonomic effects of fertilizer on faunal bone conducted by the Northern Arizona University Faunal Analysis Laboratory (NAUDAFAL), this research project seeks to establish the effects of fertilizer on pig for comparison to human bones. Burying the bones in a combination of fertilizer and soil, therefore recreating an underground, buried environment, we observed the taphonomic processes impacting cut, fleshed, and defleshed long bones and ribs over several months. Each experimental treatment had fertilizers of different nitrogen-phosphorus-potassium (NPK) ratios to understand how various chemicals alter bone mass and physical characteristics. We conclude that increased chemical compounds within fertilizers raises the acidity and pH levels and degrades the bone mass over several months. Additionally, the defleshed bone surface was impacted and the muscle of the fleshed bones decomposed slightly. While limited in duration and not necessarily statistically significant, this research demonstrates the value of evaluating fertilizer impacts in forensic and taphonomic contexts.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• SAA 2023: Individual Abstracts   •
• Society for American Archaeology 88th Annual Meeting, Portland, OR (2023)

Keywords

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 35940.0