Memory • Science • Collaboration
Actualistic Taphonomy in South America
A history shaped by people coming together, exchanging ideas, and exploring how evidence from the present helps us understand the past.
TAAS brings together researchers and students interested in the processes that shape and preserve the paleontological and archaeological records. Through scientific meetings, field research, and experimental approaches, the initiative strengthens dialogue among research groups across South America.
The beginnings of a collaboration
The collaboration that preceded TAAS began taking shape in 2014, during the International Palaeontological Congress in Mendoza, Argentina. A session on actualistic taphonomy, led by Michał Kowalewski and Claudio G. De Francesco, brought together researchers interested in sharing experiences and developing scientific questions from a South American perspective.
These exchanges continued during a postgraduate course in Porto Alegre, Brazil. The discussions led to the proposal known as the South American School of Taphonomy, aimed at integrating research across different environments, organisms, and spatial scales.
In 2016, Matias do Nascimento Ritter, Claudio G. De Francesco, Fernando Erthal, Gabriela S. Hassan, Eleonor Tietze, and Sergio A. Martínez published the Manifesto of the South American School of (Actualistic) Taphonomy in PALAIOS. The manifesto highlighted the research opportunities offered by South America’s environmental diversity and inspired the first workshop.
The meetings through time
Montevideo, the online meeting hosted from Rio Grande do Sul, and Mar del Plata mark the first chapters of this history of scientific exchange.
First meeting — Montevideo
October 9–11 • Facultad de Ciencias • Montevideo, Uruguay
The first Workshop on Actualistic Taphonomy in South America brought together contributions on mollusk and diatom preservation, bone accumulations, plant remains, bioerosion, and time-averaging, alongside applications of taphonomy to the interpretation of archaeological and paleontological records.
Discussions from the meeting led to the book Actualistic Taphonomy in South America, edited by Sergio Martínez, Alejandra Rojas, and Fernanda Cabrera, and published by Springer in the Topics in Geobiology series.
Second meeting — Connecting online
July 19–21 • Online • Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil
The second meeting took place online, with the Centro de Estudos Costeiros, Limnológicos e Marinhos — CECLIMAR, at the Litoral Norte Campus of the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, serving as its institutional base.
The meeting continued the exchange among research groups. Its abstract volume was made openly available through Zenodo, preserving the contributions presented and broadening access to the meeting’s scientific output.
Its outcomes include a thematic issue of PALAIOS, introduced in 2023 by Matias do Nascimento Ritter, Fernando Erthal, and Rodrigo Scalise Horodyski in The Present Is the Key to the Past: Actualistic Taphonomy in South America.
Third meeting — Mar del Plata
October 7–9 • Museo Municipal de Ciencias Naturales “Lorenzo Scaglia” • Mar del Plata, Argentina
The third meeting brought together researchers, professionals, and students, encouraging exchange among biology, paleontology, geology, archaeology, and forensic sciences.
The abstract volume was published in the Revista del Museo de La Plata, volume 9, abstract supplement. The program included invited lectures, research presentations, and workshops on public science communication and open data through Wikimedia projects.
Publications and scientific outcomes
The history of the meetings can also be followed through their publications and the scientific contributions of the South American actualistic taphonomy community.
A manifesto for collaboration
Published in PALAIOS in 2016, the manifesto outlines a proposal for South American collaboration in actualistic taphonomy.
Read the articleActualistic Taphonomy in South America
Edited by Sergio Martínez, Alejandra Rojas, and Fernanda Cabrera, this book brings together outcomes of the first meeting.
Explore the publication on SpringerSecond meeting abstracts
The abstract volume of the 2021 workshop, preserved as an open-access publication in the Zenodo repository.
Read the abstract volumePALAIOS — Thematic issue
The introduction published in 2023 places into context the studies and discussions that continued after the second workshop.
Read the introductionThird meeting abstracts
Published in the Revista del Museo de La Plata, volume 9, abstract supplement, in 2024.
Read the abstract volumeSouth American papers on actualistic taphonomy
A thematic collection published in 2025 in the Publicación Electrónica de la Asociación Paleontológica Argentina, edited by Gabriela Hassan and Karen Borrazzo.
Explore the thematic collection
The 2nd TAAS was a successful event that achieved more than 60 participants, and several ideas have been pointed out for the near future. Despite the challenges of an online event, the discussions and ideas have been spread out over those marvelous three days.
The 3rd TAAS was the biggest until today.