The History of Taphonomy and the Importance of Taphonomic ResearchinPaleoanthropology

Since the 19th century,taphonomy has been an important part of the research among paleoanthropologists and archaeologists for understanding the structure and accumulation of fossil remains. Revealing the taphonomic history of the fossils obtained from the excavation sites has a great significance to understand whether these fossil accumulations were created by hominins or by natural events, such as fluvial transport and carnivore activities. These studies provide important clues about the paleoecology of these sites. Taphonomy has been an essential discipline especially to reveal behaviors and feeding strategies of hominin