Forensic anthropology 149remains scavenged and weathered? What are the characteristics of the local
weather, terrain, water sources, and fauna, all of which will influence the rate
of decomposition or disassembly of remains? In addition to these two major
sources of information, there are two general approaches to timing a death:
rate methods and concurrence methods. The degree to which bone has lost
mineral and organic content, the change in sound or electrical conduction
properties of bone, changes in specific gravity, and the amount of total lipid
lost are examples of features that change with documentable rates. The details
of these and other rate techniques are beyond the scope of this discussion, but
may be found elsewhere. Concurrence estimates of the postmortem interval
depend upon establishing an association between the remains and an object
or event for which time can be fixed. An individual will not have died before
the most recently minted coins in his pockets; there may be a scattering of
leaves upon the body from nearby trees, which places its death before leaf fall,
a natural event whose timing will be known to local botanists. The state or
type of clothing may reveal season of death as well as time of day or night, etc.
When an elderly decomposing, mummified, or even skeletonized individual
is discovered indoors, one often need look no further than the oldest letter in
the mailbox. Good summaries of concurrence methods are available.^52
Whatever the approach taken, the time interval estimates must become
broader as the actual postmortem interval lengthens. Because the estimate
may be used to establish or exclude possible matches, or entered into a data-
base along with other information, it is better to err on the side of more
inclusive estimates than to exclude a true match through overconfidence.19,53
Above all, it is important to avoid a mindset about what to expect. In 1999,
while relocating some prison burials from ca. 1900, the author encountered
an individual with nearly complete integument, copious adipocere, and
a substantial amount of pink acellular skeletal muscle. Most of the other
decedents were, as expected, represented by little more than dental frag-
ments and coffin splinters. Just short of proclaiming the burial a much more
recent one, he was reminded of an almost identical experience described by
William Bass, who in the 1970s encountered similar findings in a Civil War
era burial.^54 Important timing information will almost always be lost in the
process of recovery, transport, processing, and storage of remains. When the
anthropologist is asked to examine remains at the end of this process with
little or no reliable information about context or procedure, it is prudent to
refrain from any except the most general estimate of postmortem interval.
8.2.7 Trauma
An important part of the anthropological analysis will be an assessment of
traumatic injuries and other diseases or disorders sustained by the decedent.
While recognizing that there are far more causes of death that will not be