Outdoor human decomposition in Sweden: A retrospective quantitative study of forensic-taphonomic changes and postmortem interval in terrestrial and aquatic settings.

Szczegóły
Abstrakt

Tytuł:: Outdoor human decomposition in Sweden: A retrospective quantitative study of forensic-taphonomic changes and postmortem interval in terrestrial and aquatic settings.
Autorzy:: Alfsdotter C; Faculty of Art and Humanities, School of Cultural Studies, Linnaeus University, Kalmar, Sweden.
Petaros A; Division of Forensic Medicine in Linköping, National Board of Forensic Medicine, Linköping, Sweden.
Źródło:: Journal of forensic sciences [J Forensic Sci] 2021 Jul; Vol. 66 (4), pp. 1348-1363. Date of Electronic Publication: 2021 May 05.
Typ publikacji:: Journal Article
Język:: English
Imprint Name(s):: Publication: 2006- : Malden, MA : Blackwell Pub.
Original Publication: [Chicago, Ill.] : Callaghan and Co., 1956-
MeSH Terms:: Burial*
Environmental Exposure*
Immersion*
Postmortem Changes*
Adolescent ; Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Female ; Forensic Pathology ; Humans ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Regression Analysis ; Retrospective Studies ; Sweden ; Temperature ; Young Adult
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Contributed Indexing:: Keywords: Sweden; aquatic decomposition; forensic anthropology; forensic taphonomy; postmortem interval; terrestrial decomposition
Entry Date(s):: Date Created: 20210505 Date Completed: 20210727 Latest Revision: 20210727
Update Code:: 20240104
DOI:: 10.1111/1556-4029.14719
PMID:: 33951184
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This paper presents a quantitative retrospective study of gross human decomposition in central and southeastern Sweden. The applicability of methods developed abroad for postmortem interval (PMI) estimation from decomposition morphology and temperature are is evaluated. Ninety-four cases were analyzed (43 terrestrial and 51 aquatic) with a median PMI of 48 days. The results revealed differences in decomposition patterns between aquatic, surface, hanging, and buried remains. While partial saponification and desiccation occurred in cases of surface remains, complete skeletonization was observed in all cases with a PMI over two years. Aquatic skeletonization was slower due to extensive saponification in cases with PMI higher than one year. Formulae for assessing accumulated degree-days (ADD) from the original methods did not fit the study material. However, a regression analysis demonstrated that 80% of decomposition variance in surface remains could be explained by ADD, suggesting that a geographically adapted equation holds promise for assessing PMI. In contrast, the model fit was poor for aquatic cases (43%). While this may be explained by problems in obtaining reliant aquatic temperature data or an insufficient scoring system, aquatic decomposition may be highly dependent on factors other than ADD alone. This study evaluates the applicability of current PMI methods on an outdoor sample from a previously unpublished region, and represents the first scientific publication of human outdoor decomposition patterns in Sweden. Suggestions for future research are provided, including that scoring methods should incorporate saponification to fit forensic taphonomy in Swedish environments.
(© 2021 The Authors. Journal of Forensic Sciences published by Wiley Periodicals LLC on behalf of American Academy of Forensic Sciences.)

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