Organic remains from archaeological contexts. Forensic taphonomy applied to prehistoric and early medieval inhumation graves Karina Grömer and Martin Grassberger With 8 figures 8 th International Meeting on Taphonomy and Fossilization 14-17 th September 2017, Vienna, Austria Abstract: Organic remains are rare in archaeological sites in Europe due to the prevailing climatic conditions. This paper focuses on prehistoric and early medieval burials in Central Europe that yield textile, leather, skin and insect remains. Forensic taphonomy can help us to understand the “normal” decomposition process of a body (death – decay – skeletonization), the time-frames involved and the variables affecting decay rate, including temperature, climate, and access of insects. Under average Central European conditions, organic material in a prehistoric burial can be reasonably expected to have decomposed completely after a maximum of 10 years. In rare cases, textiles, leather, and human skin and soft tissues can be preserved in graves. This typically happens in the contact zone with metal objects, where corrosion products of the metals penetrate and thus preserve adjacent organic material, both as mineralised replicates as well as organic residue. Thus, under specific chemical conditions, and micro-climatic conditions such as pH-value, moisture and temperature the decay process is slowed down or even stopped. In this paper, the organic remains attached to metal objects are analysed using micro-stratigraphy, and case-studies involving preserved textiles, leather and human skin are presented. Analysis of the timing of the decomposition processes, as well as microstratigraphic succession of the individual organic and inorganic layers facilitate an interpretation of the function of the textiles and leather, even in cases where the original burial context is not preserved (or was not documented) in-situ (e.g., due to grave robbery in ancient time, re-opening of graves, excavation by non-experts). Key words: Forensic taphonomy, timing of decomposition process, archaeology, organic remains, graves, Prehistory, Early Medieval 1. Introduction Material culture studies undertaken by archaeologists usually involve durable materials like stone artefacts, pottery, metal objects as well as human bones (EggErt 2001; rEnfrEw & Bahn 2008, pages 51-72). In prehis- toric and early medieval graveyards in Central Europe, organic remains such as skin, cloth, and leather are usu- ally not preserved, as a result of climatic conditions in this region. Only in some rare cases does such organic material survive. This paper will introduce a taphono- my-based approach to the study of textile, leather, skin and insect remains in graves. In prehistoric and early medieval Central Europe there are two basic types of burials; cremations – the deceased person was burnt and the ashes was put into the grave; and inhumations – the corpse is buried equipped with various grave goods depending on period and region. In this study we focus on inhumation graves. Archaeological studies of inhumation graves ex- plore the biological and social components of death, especially by focusing on the study of the human ©2018 E. Schweizerbart’sche Verlagsbuchhandlung, Stuttgart, Germany www.schweizerbart.de DOI: 10.1127/njgpa/2018/0750 0077-7749/2018/0750 $ 3.50 N. Jb. Geol. Paläont. Abh. 289/2 (2018), 203–216 Article Stuttgart, August 2018 E eschweizerbart_xxx