Scope of Forensic Taphonomy Today: A Case Study of Human Remains from a Museum in the Cityof São Pedro do Sul, State of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

Abstract

This is a case study on taphonomy in archaeological material from a pre-colonial indigenous burial in a ceramic urn, associated with the Guarani Archaeological Tradition, in the city of São Pedro do Sul, state of Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. This involves the study of human remains deposited in the Walter Ilha Historical and Paleontological Museum, located in this city, and the treatment carried out at the Laboratory of Archaeology, Society and Cultures of the Americas – LASCA, at the Federal University of Santa Maria- UFSM. The curation involved the description of the bones deposited in the urn, as well as the cleaning, sanitization, treatment and consolidation, when possible, as well as the stabilization of the human remains deposited in this Museum collection.The result was a preliminary description of the taphonomic processes of the bioarchaeological material and curation actions developed by LASCA-UFSM.