Revolution in death sciences: body farms and taphonomics blooming. A review investigating the advantages, ethical and legal aspects in a Swiss context

Abstract

Taphonomy is the study of decaying organisms over time and their process of fossilization.Taphonomy, originally a branch of palaeontology and anthropology, was developed to understand the ecology of a decomposition site, how site ecology changes upon the introduction of plant or animal remains and, in turn, how site ecology affects the decomposition of these materials. In recent years, these goals were incorporated by forensic science to understand the decomposition of human cadavers, to provide a basis on which to estimate postmortem and/or postburial interval, to assist in the determination of cause and circumstances of death, and to aid in the location of clandestine graves. These goals are achieved through the study of the factors that influence cadaver decomposition (e.g. temperature, moisture, insect activity). These studies have also provided insight into the belowground ecology of cadaver breakdown and allowed to develop useful protocols for mass disaster managements in humanitarian medicine.From the results obtained, new scientific disciplines have arisen, gathered under the word "taphonomics" such as the study of microorganisms living below/on a cadaver (thanatogeomicrobiology), and join the more classical forensic sciences such as anthropology, botany or entomology. Taking into account the specificities of the study object (human cadaver), primordial requirements are needed in terms of security (physical and environmental) as well as ethical and legal concerns which are studied in the Swiss context.The present review aims to present in a first part the concept of human forensic taphonomy facilities (HFTF, also colloquially named "body farm") leading to an enrichment of forensic sciences with new "taphonomics". The second part is focused on the mandatory points that must be addressed for a HFTF approach, especially because it requires a specific place to undertake this research which must be performed in conformity with a country's human ethics and laws.

Desecration of dead bodies and their burial places: legislation improvement issues

“…At the same time, it should be noted that the composition covering the violation of the dead bodies and their burial places based on political, ideological, racial, national, religious hatred or enmity, etc., in our opinion, does not contradict the circumstances of real life and really regulates one of the most important aspects of social relationships (Varlet et al, 2020).…”

Forensic studies with human analogues: evaluation of decomposition and the use of residual odor detection dogs

“…The criminal approach must be reevaluated according to each context, not only when using canines in the field of forensic human sciences, but to collect a variety of evidence and establish the correlation between the suspects and the crime (Filetti et al, 2019), in order to make fundamental contributions when using canine corpse detectors, which is important for criminal investigations, since it can indicate the presence of new forms of evidence that can be accepted in the courts of justice (Furton, Caraballo, Cerreta & Holness, 2015). In Colombia, they must be adjusted according to existing laws with the recommended use of "human forensic farms" to determine the advantages, ethical and legal aspects (Varlet, Joye, Forbes & Grabherr, 2020) for future studies. At the NPC , we are currently working under international standards in order to certify the binomials by using various academic programs to measure the behaviors associated with pedagogical competences, performance indicators and the value as instruments of evaluation of humans (Hernández-Maldonado, Rojas-Guevara & Gallo-Vargas, 2019) and binomials (dog and guide).…”

Time-Lapse Electrical Resistivity Tomography Imaging of Buried Human Remains in Simulated Mass and Individual Graves

“…Victims are typically hidden by criminals in hurriedly excavated shallow individual graves with dimensions of 1 m × 0.5 m and less than 1 m deep (Pringle et al, 2008). On a larger scale, forensic search and recovery are also embarked upon to locate, recover, and identify victims of natural and man-made disasters, including earthquakes, tsunamis, and genocides (Varlet et al, 2020). Hence, forensic searches may involve locating both clandestine individual and or mass graves (burials).…”

“…The excavation and backfilling of graves alter the soil porosity of the grave shaft, which makes the grave act as a preferential infiltration zone with increased soil moisture content during the early period after burial (Jervis and Pringle, 2014). In addition, the decay of buried human remains involves bio-chemical reactions which produce chemical compounds and generally leachates which alter soil pH, temperature, electrical conductivity, and reduction-oxidation potential (Jervis et al, 2009;Wescott, 2018;Varlet et al, 2020;Donnelly, 2021). The formed leachates are also known to be highly conductive (Feng et al, 2021).…”

“…These studies highlighted the relevance of electrical resistivity in forensic searches and as a noninvasive imaging tool to support human body decomposition and forensic archeology research (Berezowski et al, 2021). However, only limited studies have been conducted to validate the capability and limitations of the technique using real human cadavers considering the identified challenges with extrapolating from proxies such as pigs to humans in a forensic context (Varlet et al, 2020). While 2D resistivity techniques have been used to investigate graves with and without buried proxies of human remains (Molina et al, 2016;Cavalcanti et al, 2018;Pringle et al, 2020), the use of 3D resistivity to image simulated graves has not been conducted.…”