Fire Modification of Bone

Correia, Pamela Mayne

doi:10.1201/9781439821923.ch18

Cited by 27 publications

(20 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…Much research has focused on the fate of human bone when exposed to various external stressors, including taphonomic processes such as weathering, decomposition, and burning (1–6). These results may afford investigators the opportunity to analyze crime scene evidence in order to draw more accurate conclusions about perimortem events.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Frozen Human Bone: A Microscopic Investigation

Tersigni

2006

Journal of Forensic Sciences

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The taphonomic effects of prolonged extreme cold and freezing on human bone have received little research attention. Questions of specific interest include whether previously frozen bone can be identified and whether freezing alters the structural integrity enough to prevent histological aging. There is no evidence from previous studies that freezing damages the structural integrity, and to date no research investigating the freezing process on bone microstructure has been undertaken. This research attempts to distinguish histologically previously frozen bone from nonfrozen bone by identifying patterned defects. To determine the effects of freezing in bone microstructure using light and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), several human bone sections were subjected to prolonged freezing and allowed to thaw before thin sectioning. Light microscopy failed to demonstrate statistically significant differences between frozen and nonfrozen specimens. SEM analysis revealed fractures, although these lacked pattern and did not occur systematically throughout the section. Evidence of microstructural changes caused by liquid expansion, however, was remarkable but did not alter the structural integrity of the microstructure. The results of this study suggest that freezing does not alter the process of histomorphological analysis.

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confidence: 99%

Frozen Human Bone: A Microscopic Investigation

Tersigni

2006

Journal of Forensic Sciences

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“…Acts such as burying the body or disposing of the corpse in the water, contribute to concealing the identity of the deceased as well as the perpetrators. There are several reasons to alter the body after death: to destroy the evidence of the crime, to facilitate the transportation of the body, to prevent the identification of the deceased, and to hide the proof of murder [1][2][3][4][5]. One well-known method of cadaveric modification is dismemberment, albeit it is more common in armed conflicts [6][7][8][9] than in individual domestic cases [10][11][12][13][14].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Moreover, previous retrospective studies of forensic reports occasionally mention further concealment methods or alterations to the body by the perpetrators after the dismemberment, such as acid [19] and fire [2,26,[37][38][39]. Fire is by far the most common agent used and its effects have been studied in depth [4,[40][41][42][43], although less is known about other taphonomic alterations [44,45]. A pilot statistical study of 10 forensic cases in Spain revealed that two out of 13 bodies were burnt following dismemberment [26].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Dismemberment as a Method of Body Disposal in Spanish Forensic Cases

et al. 2022

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This study provides an overview of victim and offender data, the cause and manner of death, the dismemberment type, the post-dismemberment alteration, and the forensic investigation, for 35 Spanish forensic cases. The main aim of this study was to perform a retrospective analysis of dismemberment and body part alteration in Spain since 1990, in particular relating to burning. The sample was selected from a Spanish national database on criminal records (CENDOJ). Official court records were examined for 96 variables, which were analysed through non-metric multidimensional scaling analysis (nMDS). The results obtained revealed that the number of dismemberment cases between 1990 and 2016 totalled 35 (amounting to a total of 40 bodies) with an incidence of 0.29% of the total number of homicide cases in the database. Most of the aggressors were Spanish adult males, and the victims were adult females of foreign nationality. The most commonly employed tool used to kill and dismember was the knife. A total of 15.00% of the 40 bodies were further altered by fire. It was concluded that dismemberment and other postmortem actions contributed to complicating the forensic investigation and hindering the identification of the deceased.

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“…Burning is a common method of body disposal [1]. Although fire does not completely destroy a body [2], it contributes to hindering the identification of the victim and to concealing the proof related to the cause and manner of death [3][4][5][6]. Fire damages soft tissue and organs and may reduce a full body to bone fragments [7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Measuring dimensional and morphological heat alterations of dismemberment-related toolmarks with an optical roughness metre

Tutor¹,

Rojas²,

Márquez‐Grant

et al. 2021

Int J Legal Med

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This experiment adhered to the British Association for Biological Anthropology and Osteoarchaeology guidance on Ethics and Practice and has been funded by their 2020-2021 research grant. We would like to express our gratitude to the members of Petrophysics Laboratory at Geosciences Institute (CSIC, UCM) for the technical assistance provided during the use of the optical Roughness-meter and the electric furnace.We kindly thank Iván Serrano Muñoz for his help and patience during the burning process. Lastly, we thank Daniel García Rubio for his assistance in designing the tables and figures and for providing the samples.

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Fire Modification of Bone

Cited by 27 publications

References 27 publications

Frozen Human Bone: A Microscopic Investigation

Frozen Human Bone: A Microscopic Investigation

Dismemberment as a Method of Body Disposal in Spanish Forensic Cases

Measuring dimensional and morphological heat alterations of dismemberment-related toolmarks with an optical roughness metre

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