Nobody? It seems to me an important topic! I already found basics from L. Lyman or W. Haglund and some articles about experiments with animals... But is there more stuff, can anyone give personal advice?
Hi Jan, I meant the "natural" order (sequence) in which corpses/skeletonized bodies disarticulate; weak connections disarticulate first (autopodium, mandibule etc.), strong connections later (e.g. limbs, lumbar vertebrae). Experiments with animal carcasses are of great interest but I looked for data about human remains. best regards, simon
roger on that, thanks Christian; maybe the file attached may help as well. I suggest to contact Mike Groen from the Netherlands Forensich Instituut - [email protected] he might hand you on...
Thanks very much Christian and Jan! The Haglund-citation I already found, but Duday, Weigelt and the article of Outram et al. I did not yet know. And I 'll try to contact Mike Groen.
could you please specify what sequence of disarticulation you are interested in? Exposed / buried human remains - protected / unprotected - accessible by large / small scavengers?
I was looking initially for all kinds of environmental conditions. But, as sort of "reference" I would be mostly intersted in disarticulation under exposed condition - without animal vectors... just the way corpses decay...
as a starting point, I would suggest Pinheiro 2006 and Sorg 2013, which will also give you some useful references to work with. More data has been published with regard to specific contexts...
best, Sandra
Pinheiro J. 2006. Decay Process of a Cadaver. In: Schmitt A, Cunha E, and Pinheiro J, editors. Forensic Anthropology and Medicine: Complementary Sciences From Recovery to Cause of Death. Totowa, NJ: Humana Press. p 85-116.
Sorg MH. 2013. Developing Regional Taphonomic Standards. Orono, ME: University of Maine.
I realize that this thread is quite old now, but I thought I'd mention that I am currently studying the human disarticulation sequence in a number of donated human bodies at an outdoor human decomposition facility in Texas. The project is still underway, but I will be publishing the first results soon, including the full disarticulation sequences of two of the bodies I studied so far. Please email me if you have any questions, I'd be happy to help where I can.