Body farm

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For the Patricia Cornwell novel, see The Body Farm (novel).

A body farm is a research facility where human decomposition after death can be scientifically studied in a variety of settings. The aim is to gain a better understanding of the decomposition process, permitting the development of techniques for extracting information (such as the timing and circumstances of death) from human remains. Body farm research is particularly important within forensic anthropology and related disciplines, and has applications in the fields of law enforcement, medical examination and crime scene investigation. There are currently (March 2008) two such facilities operating in the United States, with a third due to open shortly.

[edit] Facilities in the United States

[edit] University of Tennessee - Knoxville

The original "Body Farm" is the University of Tennessee Forensic Anthropology Facility located a few miles from downtown off of Alcoa Highway in Knoxville, Tennessee, behind the University of Tennessee Medical Center. Anthropologist Dr. William M. Bass became head of the university's anthropology department in 1971, and as official state forensic anthropologist for Tennessee he was frequently consulted in police cases involving decomposed human remains. Since no facilities existed that specifically studied decomposition, in 1981 he opened the department's first body farm. [1]

It consists of a 3-acre (12,140 m²) wooded plot, surrounded by a razor wire fence. At any one time there will be a number of bodies placed in different settings throughout the facility and left to decompose. The bodies are exposed in a number of ways in order to provide insights into decomposition under varying conditions: for example, some are left out in the open or in the woods, some get buried in shallow graves or entombed in vaults, some have been left in car trunks or submerged in water. Detailed observations and records of the decomposition process are kept, including the sequence and speed of decomposition and the effects of insect activity, and afterwards the skeletonized bones are removed from the plot and added to the Dr. William M. Bass Donated Skeletal Collection, to be used for research and teaching.[2]

Bodies are obtained from various sources. Some have lain unclaimed at the medical examiner's office, while over 300 people have voluntarily donated their bodies to the Body Farm. Between 30 and 50 bodies are donated to the facility every year.[3]

The University of Tennessee Body Farm is also used in the training of law enforcement officers in scene-of-crime skills and techniques.[4]

[edit] Western Carolina University

Another facility in the United States is located at Western Carolina University in Cullowhee, North Carolina and is part of the Western Carolina Human Identification Laboratory. It was opened in 2006 and is run by WCU's Forensic Anthropology program on a small plot on the rural mountain campus. The size of a garage, and able to accommodate six bodies at a time,. [5] the facility studies decomposition in the western North Carolina mountain habitat and may be used for cadaver dog training. [6]

[edit] Texas State University

A Forensic Anthropology Research Facility is currently being commissioned by the Texas State University-San Marcos Department of Anthropology. They plan to have the body farm operational by the late Spring 2008, and will be part of the Forensic Anthropology Center at Texas State (F.A.C.T.S.).

Prior to the selection of the location, there were objections by local residents and the nearby San Marcos Municipal Airport (owing to concerns about circling vultures) that stalled this plan.[7] But on February 12, 2008, Texas State University announced that its Freeman Ranch, off County Road 213 northwest of San Marcos, would be the site of the facility.[8] [9]

[edit] Other facilities

Roma Khan doing preliminary work on decomposition of cattle. She finally hopes to open up a Human Anthropological Facility (popularly known as a body farm), where similar decomposition of humans would be studied.
Roma Khan doing preliminary work on decomposition of cattle. She finally hopes to open up a Human Anthropological Facility (popularly known as a body farm), where similar decomposition of humans would be studied.

There have been proposals to open body farms in other locations in the U.S. and elsewhere. Few of these have been successful as yet; for example, a facility in Las Vegas was proposed in 2003 but was unable to secure funding.[10]

Roma Khan of India is taking initial steps toward establishing a body farm in India along the lines of those in the U.S.[11]

[edit] Popular culture

The original Tennessee body farm was the inspiration for the Patricia Cornwell novel of the same name. It is the also subject of the nonfiction Death's Acre by Dr. William M. Bass and Jon Jefferson. Author Mary Roach visited the U.T. Body Farm and wrote about the experience in a chapter of her non-fiction book about the use and handling of corpses, Stiff.

The Tennessee body farm has also appeared in several television shows including The Dead Zone, (Season 4 Episode 10) and - although it takes place in Las Vegas, Nevada - CSI: Crime Scene Investigation (Season 2 Episode 15).

A similar forensic setup appeared in Law and Order: Special Victims Unit (Episode 45). Though located in New York, the "Farm" effectively duplicated the procedures used in the eponymous institution.

A body farm was featured throughout the sixth series of the UK TV series Waking the Dead, where the new forensic pathologist Eve Lockhart is seen studying bodies in various stages of decomposition, and later explaining the results to her colleagues. The facility is presumed to be in the vicinity of London.

The University was a featured extra on the season 3 DVD boxed set of CSI: NY. Actor Hill Harper went to learn about the way the bodies were used.

The original body farm was also featured on an episode of National Geographic's "Taboo".

Mark Berube's 2005 album Suspicious Fish contains a musical ode to the University of Tennessee facility entitled, of course, "Body Farm."

Australian Death Metal band Misery have a song entitled "Body Farm" on their debut album "A Necessary Evil".

[edit] Sources

[edit] References

  1. ^ Bass & Jefferson, chapter 7
  2. ^ Bass and Jefferson, chapter 9
  3. ^ Body donation information. University of Tennessee Forensic Anthropology Center. Retrieved on 2008-03-26.
  4. ^ National Forensic Academy: Facilities. University of Tennessee Institute for Public Service. Retrieved on 2008-03-26.
  5. ^ Forensic Research Facility. Western Carolina University. Retrieved on 2008-03-27.
  6. ^ Western Carolina Human Identification Laboratory. Western Carolina University. Retrieved on 2008-03-27.
  7. ^ Vultures pick off human body farm. BBC. Retrieved on 2006-05-11.
  8. ^ Texas State Forensic Research Facility to locate at Freeman Ranch. Texas State University. Retrieved on 2008-02-12.
  9. ^ Listening to the Bones - Texas State opens the world's largest forensic anthropology research facility. The Austin Chronicle. Retrieved on 2008-04-04.
  10. ^ Bone-dry dreams of a body farm. Las Vegas Sun. Retrieved on 2008-03-27.
  11. ^ Aims and Objectives. Investigative Scientific & Anthropological Analysis Facility. Retrieved on 2006-12-27.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

Coordinates: 35°56′24″N 83°56′20″W / 35.94, -83.93889