Archaeology is the study of the remains of man from the past, mainly through the interpretation of excavated remains. It is interdisciplinary, and utilizes information from a wide variety of fields of study. Archaeological conservation is one such field. Conservation deals with the technical aspects of restoring and stabilizing, but also employs a wide variety of sophisticated analytical tools for examination, including X-ray diffraction, energy dispersive X-ray, chromatography, microscopy (both optical and electron), environmental testing. Except for some isolated examples, (eg. Baer et al, 1968-70; Baer et al, 1971A; Baer et al, 1971B) little research has been conducted into the actual processes of deterioration of archaeological bone or ivory. This article is based upon the assumption that since so apparently little has been done in this field, even a simple visual inspection of bone can provide some answers to conservation problems, and information of value to the archaeologist. The various analyses of bone which archaeologists have employed in the past is in itself a topic worth an entire article, and for that reason, I will avoid them in this particular study.