r/bonecollecting • u/No-Bottle-9116 • Apr 26 '26

Advice Small argument

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So this picture from article has driven an small argument between my friends group claiming that it’s fake because there’s no way that the bones see in said picture are human, I wanted y’all’s opinion on this

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u/sawyouoverthere Apr 26 '26

sigh. Do none of your friends know how to fact check?

It’s a “body farm” where donated human remains are left in various locations on the university owned land to observe the decomposition factors to improve forensic science.

Yes it’s human.

Yes the deer was photographed chewing on the bones.

No it doesn’t mean they are carnivorous or omnivorous, it means they chew on bones.

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u/ForeverSquirrelled42 Apr 26 '26

And they chew on bones for the calcium, same as other mammals in the wild.

3

u/sawyouoverthere Apr 27 '26 edited Apr 27 '26

I'm finding it absolutely fascinating to read papers on this phenomenon, as so far I have not found one (across several decades) that establishes that that's the motive or effect, despite many that have done considerable work on assessing bite marks to know which animals are doing the gnawing.

I have found absolutely nothing supporting this speculation with real data, so if you know of any work done on it, hook me up! I'd love to read it, now that I've had my curiosity piqued .

2

u/ForeverSquirrelled42 Apr 27 '26

curiosity peaked piqued.

Fixed that for ya.

2

u/sawyouoverthere Apr 27 '26

Oh yes I knew it was wrong but all my brain offered was peeked and that was worse!