In recent years histological analysis has become widely used for reconstructing mortuary treatment in archaeological contexts. Interpretations rely on the degree and nature of microstructural taphonomic changes, particularly bacterial attack, but there is considerable disagreement on how these changes should be interpreted. Some researchers believe the origin of bacteria to be endogenous (i.e. from the gut) and others consider it to be exogenous (i.e. from the soil), with the two scenarios pursuing different interpretative pathways. In addition, the timing and duration of bacterial attack and other microscopic modifications is poorly understood. A paucity of experimental research, especially on whole-body human cadavers, has proved a barrier to confident interpretation of histotaphonomic data and as such research has often relied on received wisdom and inferential patterns.

This study makes progress towards addressing these issues through controlled experimental research on five human cadavers in different burial scenarios at the Forensic Anthropology Center at Texas State. The burial conditions comprised 1) buried in soil, 2) buried in a coffin, 3) semi-buried in a coffin, 4) exposed on the ground surface, and 5) exposed in an unfilled trench all for a duration up to 30 months. Contrary to expectations, the different burial scenarios produced very little variation in histological preservation. In addition, very little bioerosion occurred on any of the remains throughout the duration of the study. Crucially, this suggests that bioerosion may not relate to the early post-mortem period, as has often been considered and means some previous interpretations may require reconsideration. Further work is required to clarify the variables impacting varied preservation.

近年来，组织学分析已广泛用于重建考古环境中的停尸房处理。解释依赖于微观结构变化的程度和性质，特别是细菌攻击，但对于如何解释这些变化存在相当大的分歧。一些研究人员认为细菌的起源是内源性的（即来自肠道），而其他人则认为它是外源性的（即来自土壤），这两种情况采用不同的解释途径。此外，人们对细菌攻击和其他微观修饰的时间和持续时间知之甚少。缺乏实验研究，尤其是全身人体尸体，

这项研究通过对德克萨斯州法医人类学中心不同埋葬场景中的五具人类尸体进行受控实验研究，在解决这些问题方面取得了进展。埋葬条件包括 1) 埋在土壤中，2) 埋在棺材中，3) 半埋在棺材中，4) 暴露在地面上，以及 5) 暴露在未填充的沟槽中，持续时间长达 30 个月. 与预期相反，不同的埋葬场景在组织学保存方面几乎没有变化。此外，在整个研究期间，任何遗骸都很少发生生物侵蚀。至关重要的是，这表明生物侵蚀可能与早期的死后时期无关，正如人们经常考虑的那样，这意味着之前的一些解释可能需要重新考虑。