Forensic Dentistry, Second Edition

death investigation systems 35

occurrences. Such internally consistent and systematic misinterpretations

based on the best learning of the day should serve to give us pause when we

become too certain of the validity of our own current positions.

Another example of early death investigation, from an Eastern perspective,

can be found in the book Hsi Yuan Chi Lu^13 [The Washing Away of Wrongs]

(from China, circa 1247 A.D.) as written by Sung Tz’u. This text gives detailed

instructions on death investigation, and is probably the oldest extant full

text on the topic. It includes discussions of decomposition, determination of

time since death, homicidal violence, self-inflicted injuries, various accidental

deaths, and deaths due to natural causes. In spite of its antiquity, the similari-

ties between the investigational methods taught in the book and those utilized

today are often striking.

4.3 The Coroner System

Though the cause of death was undoubtedly investigated in ancient times,
it was likely an ancillary duty of tribal elders, magistrates, priests, or other
authorities. The first instance of an official office charged with the investi-
gation of death, as we know it today, was probably the English coroner.14 –18
Though officials with this responsibility are reported as far back as 871 A.D.,
in the time of Alfred the Great, the beginning of the coroner system in
England is generally taken to have been in 1194, with the publication of
the Articles of Eyre, the Eyre being a system of roving “circuit” justices in
England in the twelfth century. These itenerant judges traversed the land to
hear cases and dispense justice, but due to the long intervals between their
visits (an average of seven years), it was necessary to have local officials
perform careful investigations and keep records of offenses so that the cases
could effectively be brought before the justices when they finally did arrive.
Without proper records, many cases were never tried. This would not do, as
many of them involved production of revenues for the monarch, at that time
Richard the Lionhearted. Richard, a Norman king, was an absentee ruler
with a penchant for expensive foreign wars that placed a heavy strain on the
royal coffers. In addition to his travels and the need to equip large numbers
of troops, he also managed to become captured and imprisoned in Germany
during his return from the Holy Land in 1192. A huge ransom was required
to secure his release and return to England in 1194. These expenses created
an acute need for revenues, so no stone was left unturned in a desire to collect
all taxes and other dues to which the Crown was entitled under the law. There
were many such assessments, creatively applied in the name of law and order,
to enrich the king at the expense of his subjects.