Forensic Friday: Taphonomic Research Facilities: The Body Farm.
"The Body Farm," located at the University of Tennessee (Anthropological Research Facility) is one of the most popular research facilities in the U.S.A.
In the late 1970's, Dr. William M. Bass examined the postmortem remains of a man found in a property that formerly belonged to the Confederate Colonel William Shy.
Image: Colonel William Shy, killed December 16, 1864, in the battle of Nashville.
During this era little was known about death estimation. Dr. Bass received soft-tissue and estimated the postmortem interval to be about one year. Dr. Bass noted the flesh was still pink and remnants of the brain and other organs were present. The remains belonged to a man buried in 1864, that man turned out to be Colonel William Shy. The uncommon burial practice to embalm with arsenic and bury inside an iron coffin led to the preservation of Shy's remains. The unexpected soft tissue preservation made Dr. Bass to conclude the remains as recent. With this case, Dr. Bass understood the importance in studying postmortem changes and decomposition. And so, that is how later Dr. William M. Bass decided to create "The Body Farm" to continue taphonomic research.
Watch this short documentary on youtube by Vice detailing more of what happens at “The Body Farm.” CLICK HERE.
