Radiocarbon and amino acid racemization (AAR) and the time since death

Fallon, Stewart; Murray-Wallace, Colin V.

doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-815731-2.00009-1

Cited by 1 publication

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“…It also refers to the lesser known immunological methods, such as gel diffusion testing (by detecting residual serological activity), analysis of lipid content, histological tests (to analyze the state of decomposition), ion exchange chromatography, and colourimetry. Widely used in archaeological contexts, radiocarbon has also been investigated during the last decades [18,19], although in many countries like Portugal, it only serves to exclude archaeological remains. Likewise, the UV-induced fluorescence test may only be used to exclude historical material rather than for estimating the PMI [10]; radionuclide analysis is extremely expensive and requires elaborate handling [20]; and luminol assays should not be used as the sole method due to the high chance of getting false positives [21,22].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Estimation of the post-mortem interval in human bones by infrared spectroscopy

et al. 2021

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In forensic anthropology, there is an inherent difficulty in estimating the post-mortem interval (PMI). This study aimed to assess whether there is a correlation between changes in the bone mineral component and the PMI estimation. Samples of femur and humerus from 80 identified individuals with known post-mortem interval were analyzed. Infrared spectroscopy in attenuated total reflectance mode (FTIR-ATR) was applied for this analysis, several indices having been obtained from the infrared bands most representative of the bone's relative contents in carbonate and phosphate. Specific relationships between sex/age and PMI were attained: for larger PMIs, there was an increase in the amount of B-type carbonate (BPI), A-type carbonates (API), and in the carbonate/phosphate (C/P) ratio, and a decrease of the crystallinity index (CI) and in the carbonate ratio (C/C). Two particular infrared indices (CI and C/C) were identified as the most suitable for post-mortem interval estimation, especially in females, controlling the effects of sex and age (in the statistical analysis).

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