ABSTRACT
Skeletal remains are an important resource for biological characteristics of humans and animals in forensic, archaeological, and paleontological settings. Bone is an intricate composite material, containing organic and inorganic components, and a multitude of factors influence its preservation from the moment of death to its recovery and analysis. Bone components (collagen and mineral) initially offer each other mutual protection from degradation, accounting for bone’s great preservation potential (Trueman and Martill 2002), but these components are eventually affected by diagenetic processes. Diagenesis in bone is defined as postmortem alterations in the physical, chemical, and microstructural composition of bone following its deposition in the environment.
