taphological

From taphology +‎ -ical.

taphological (not comparable)

1. (rare) Of or relating to taphology.
   • 1988, Yuri Smirnov, “Mousterian Burials”, in Social Sciences, volume XIX, number 1, USSR Academy of Sciences, pages 138 and 141:

     At the same time, it must be acknowledged that Mousterian burials are still a poorly studied source from the taphological point of view, i.e. as far as study of the actual burial rites is concerned. […] The numbers of sites with burials, their dating, natural habitat, and the approximate number of simultaneous burials at each site all point to the existence of certain “centres of taphological activity” for the earliest man.

   • 1989, Robert Krieps, editor, Environment and Health: A Holistic Approach, Avebury, →ISBN, page 22:

     Taphological processes have preserved remains of bygone biospheres for us to see […]

   • 1990, Qedem, Monographs of the Institute of Archaeology, page 143, column 1:

     A close inspection of the break shows straight portions above the line of the front and back holes, which to me do not look as if they came about naturally. Taphological examination was indecisive on this question (my thanks to R. Abramowitz of the Department of Zoology of the Hebrew University, for examining the piece).

   • 2006, Ryan M. Seidemann, “Stones and Bones: Can Taphologists and Archaeologists Happily Coexist?”, in AGS Quarterly: Bulletin of the Association for Gravestone Studies, volume 30, number 2, →ISSN, page 7, column 2:

     Can archaeology answer all of these questions and address all of these problems? No. However, by employing archaeological methods to various taphological projects, we can gain a much higher level of certainty with respect to such matters.

   • 2018, Megan E. Springate, Hilda Maclean, “Burial at the Edge of the Empire and Beyond: The Divergent Histories of Coffin Furniture and Casket Hardware”, in Harold Mytum, Laurie Burgess, editors, Death Across Oceans: Archaeology of Coffins and Vaults in Britain, America, and Australia, Smithsonian Institution, →ISBN:

     Common furniture was made from the thinnest japanned iron and has often undergone such taphological change that archaeological examples are virtually indistinguishable other than by broad design, and variations that may be associated with individual makers are seldom observed.

• pathological