Bones

Bones are created from the death of a player's character, or animals. Some are used in crafting, tools and medical supplies. Some smaller bones can be picked up by hand, while player bones and some animal bones can only be moved using a basket. Some animal remains cannot be moved, but will decay after a set amount of time.

Player Bones
Bones appear after a character's death. They bear the name of the character even after moving.

Since untouched player remains take 182 minutes to naturally despawn, it is generally advised to pick them up and move them to speed decay (since Bone Piles disappear after only 120 minutes). A shovel can be used to make a Buried Grave, which further reduces the decay time to 1 hour. However, in most cases the reduced time is not worth the cost of iron. Burying beloved family members is generally accepted.

Picking up bone piles will reset their decay timer, so it optimal to avoid moving bone piles, as well as Old Graves (which also take 120 minutes to disappear), unless they are in the way.

Animal Bones
Remains of an animals that have been skinned, butchered and/or eaten.