Human remains under the microscope of funerary taphonomy: Investigating the histological biography of the decaying body in the prehistoric Aegean

•Variation in diagenetic patterns across Aegean prehistoric sites and mortuary loci.•The extent of bioerosion is more likely associated with early taphonomic processes.•High levels of bioerosion in Neolithic samples suggest primary soil burial of bodies.•Bone assemblages from Minoan sites show evidence for variable taphonomic histories.•Bodies deposited in Mycenaean tombs were rapidly skeletonized by invertebrates.