Author ORCID Identifier

0009-0009-0657-2556

Date of Award

12-13-2023

Degree Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Master of Arts (MA)

Department

Anthropology

First Advisor

Frank L'Engle Williams

Second Advisor

Bethany Turner-Livermore

Third Advisor

Nicola Sharratt

Abstract

Adipocere is the transformed adipose tissue of a corpse into a wax-like substance. It is known for preserving soft tissue and subsequently obscuring the post-mortem interval (PMI) in a forensic context. The ideal conditions in which adipocere forms on human remains are generally considered to be in warm, moist, alkaline environments. However, these conditions can be highly variable. A searchable database is modeled here as a system for tracking forensic and experimental cases involving adipocere and using those findings to establish minimum PMI estimate for cases of unknown PMI. Test studies are experimentally run to validate the precision of the database in real-world settings. The experiments result in overall accurate PMI estimates. These results indicate that adipocere can contribute to estimating PMI. However, the small sample size of cases with sufficient variables reported, and a lack of standardization in scoring gross adipocere formation must be addressed for future studies.

DOI

https://doi.org/10.57709/36416177

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