ABSTRACT
Taphonomy as a tool of the forensic anthropologist has grown considerably over the past decade as evidenced by increases in published material on the subject (Haglund and Sorg, 1997). Completeness of recovery and accuracy of forensic anthropological interpretation depend upon familiarity with perimortem and postmortem activities affecting forensic remains. The importance of differentiating perimortem trauma from perimortem damage by scavengers has been presented by Rodriguez (1984) and Sorg (1986). Hill (1979a,b) and Willey and Snyder (1989) discussed the disarticulation pattern and scatter of mammal skeletons relative to the estimation of time since death, while Haglund et al. (1989) described canid scavenging and disarticulation sequence of human remains. Haynes (1983) described the effects of trampling and wallowing by hoofed animals and scavenging by bear. Scavenging by dogs, pigs, rodents, vultures, crows, hawks, raccoons, opossum, crabs, turtles, fish, deer, and sheep has been reported by Morse et al. (1983) and Sutcliffe (1971), along with the specific bony artifacts produced by some of these animals. The present study describes the taphonomic characteristics of domestic pig scavenger activity and tooth mark artifacts on human remains as seen in one forensic anthropology case.
