February
15
/ 2022
A team of Australian marine archaeologists, specialists in aquatic forensics, have studied ancient bones discovered on ships, revealing their owners' circumstances after death. Aquatic forensics is a discipline marrying anthropology, marine science, subsea archaeology, and marine biology. Aquatic forensics are applied every time a drowned body is recovered from water whether that be through murder, floods, tsunamis, shipwrecks, or air crashes. Researchers at the Western Australian Museum have spent many decades studying bones collected from the many ancient historical shipwrecks along Australia’s coastlines. But with severe weathering, and most bones having been eaten away, it is almost impossible for scientists to determine if underwater bones are human or animal. However, by taking advantage of “ taphonomy research” unique characteristics of
