Human Body Decomposition

by Marc Oxenham (Contributor), Marc Oxenham (Contributor), Jarvis Hayman (Author), Marc Oxenham (Contributor)

New
Illustrated
2016
$28.95

The fate of the human body after death is a subject that has fascinated enquirers, both in the scientific and legal realms for millennia. However, objective research into the causes and nature of human decomposition has only taken place in the last two centuries, and quantitative measurement of the process as a means of estimating the time of death has only recently been attempted. The substantial literature concerning this research has been published in numerous scientific journals since the beginning of the nineteenth century. Human Body Decomposition expands on the current literature to include the evolving research on estimating the time of death. This volume details the process of decomposition to include early period after death when the body cools to ambient temperature, and when the body begins to putrefy. This process is significant because the estimation of the time of death becomes increasingly more difficult when the body begins to putrefy. Human Body Decomposition compiles a chronological account of research into the estimation of the time since death in human bodies found decomposed in order that researchers in the subject field can concentrate their thoughts and build on what has been achieved in the past.

Synopsis

The fate of the human body after death is a subject that has fascinated enquirers, both in the scientific and legal realms for millennia. However, objective research into the causes and nature of human decomposition has only taken place in the last two centuries, and quantitative measurement of the process as a means of estimating the time of death has only recently been attempted. The substantial literature concerning this research has been published in numerous scientific journals since the beginning of the nineteenth century. Human Body Decomposition expands on the current literature to include the evolving research on estimating the time of death. This volume details the process of decomposition to include early period after death when the body cools to ambient temperature, and when the body begins to putrefy. This process is significant because the estimation of the time of death becomes increasingly more difficult when the body begins to putrefy. Human Body Decomposition compiles a chronological account of research into the estimation of the time since death in human bodies found decomposed in order that researchers in the subject field can concentrate their thoughts and build on what has been achieved in the past.

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More Information

Format: Illustrated
Pages: 164
Edition: Illustrated
Publisher: Academic Press
Published: 07 Apr 2016
ISBN 10: 0128036915
ISBN 13: 9780128036914
Book Overview: The only text to chronologically provide 200 years of research into the human decomposition process.

Media Reviews

...represents a detailed review of the extensive body of research relating to TSD estimation of human decomposition. In just over 150 pages, the authors have managed to cover the copious methods proposed from the early hours of post-mortem through to the skeletal stage and beyond...a useful reference to a range of audiences including students, academics, pathologists, police and anyone involved in death investigations. --Australian Journal of Forensic Sciences

Author Bio

Jarvis Hayman graduated in Medicine at Aberdeen University. After coming to Australia in 1974, he worked for many years as a surgeon in Sydney and in a regional city in New South Wales. Upon retiring, he studied archaeology at the Australian National University, obtaining a Master's degree in 2006 with a thesis on the archaeology of the Scottish Highland Clearances. He then combined his archaeological and medical knowledge to undertake a PhD in forensic archaeology. Research for the thesis included a detailed study of the National Coronial Information System, based at the Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine (VIFM) in Melbourne, studies of the autopsies of decomposed bodies at the VIFM and researching the decomposition of human bodies at the Grady Early Anthropology Research Facility (GEFARL) of the Texas State University in San Marcos. The thesis developed mathematical models using numerical total body scores of the decomposition process, to estimate the time of death up to 14 days, of human bodies found in many of the states of Australia. Marc Oxenham is a Reader in Archaeology and Biological Anthropology and an Australian Future Fellow at The Australian National University. He has played a leading role in understanding human biological (health and disease related) and cultural responses to significant human and climate induced events in Southeast Asia during the last 10,000 years. In addition to his close involvement over many years as an osteologist and archaeologist with the Australian Defence Force's Unrecovered War Casualty-Army unit, he edited the first Australian focused book on forensic anthropology and allied disciplines in 2008 Forensic Approaches to Death, Disaster and Abuse . Over the past decade or so he has authored and edited 7 books and some 75 research papers and book chapters on topics ranging from forensic anthropology, palaeopathology, bioarchaeology, palaeoparasitology, to the archaeology of children and the elderly.