The science of human decay: Inside the world's largest body farm

[KamaAina]

http://www.vox.com/2014/10/28/7078151/body-farm-texas-freeman-ranch-decay

Seven miles northwest of San Marcos, Texas, 50 or so naked human bodies in varying stages of decomposition are strewn about in a 16-acre field.

Some are fully mummified, their flesh dried out by the harsh Texas sun. Others have been picked over so voraciously by vultures that their bones are frayed. The most lurid are the fresh ones: week-old bodies that have ballooned to twice their normal size and crawl with thousands of maggots.

This operation, at a place called Freeman Ranch, is part of the Forensic Anthropology Center at Texas State University. Colloquially, facilities like these — this is the largest of five worldwide, all in the US — are simply called body farms.

The bodies are donated and left out in the elements as part of research aimed at better understanding the process of decomposition, mainly to assist in criminal investigations. When an unidentified body turns up, the first question police typically ask is how long ago the person died — and the observations made at body farms have been crucial in allowing them to answer it. Researchers at Freeman Ranch are also using their knowledge of decay to help identify the bodies of hundreds of people who die of dehydration or heat stroke every year after they cross the border into Texas.

[dixiegrrrrl]

1. Patricia Cornwell created a lot of awareness of this in her book, aptly titled "The Body Farm"

Weirdly, all sorts of variations of this are on Google....

[NightWatcher]

2. UT Knox has a decent facility. The idea of them is pretty cool

You wanna know how the cops can tell that a dead body has been in a trunk for two weeks?
At The Farm they stick bodies in the trunk of a car and document what it looks like over time.

I had a blast in my CJ forensics class. We always went out for food after class, instead of before.