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The investigation of mass graves involves aspects of high political, judicial, and emotional impact. Understanding how bodies held within mass graves change between the time they are deposited and the time they are discovered (the realm of forensic taphonomy) is vital for competent collection of evidence and accurate evaluation of the scene. This thesis explores these issues by detailing experimental research undertaken to better understand the affects of environmental factors on low-density, orderly placement mass graves. Issues pertaining to how decomposition of bodies in contact differs from that of single bodies, intentional disturbance, and temperature change were examined experimentally using pigs as human analogues over a period of almost one year outside of Edmonton, Canada. There are three primary avenues in which the information obtained can be applied to the real world: estimation of elapsed time since death, planning mass grave investigations and reducing evidence loss, and evaluating post-burial disturbance or intentional vandalism.

Thesis (M.A.)--Texas State University-San Marcos, 2007. / Vita. Appendices: leaves 52-78. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 79-83).

Thesis (M.A.)--Texas State University-San Marcos, 2007. / Vita. Appendices: leaves 52-78. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 79-83).

Thesis (PhD.(Anatomy)--Faculty of Health Sciences)-University of Pretoria, 2008.

Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 197-208). Also available online in ProQuest, free to University of Oregon users.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2007. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 160-170).

The ability to locate human remains, specifically in a forensic setting, is crucial to investigations. Research in the past two decades has identified volatile organic compounds (VOCs) as the source of the decomposition odor. The study examined the headspace (area directly above) of decomposing remains, Sigma-Aldrich (St. Louis, MO) Pseudo Corpse Scents (formulations one and two), cadaveric blood, and decompositional fluid for target VOCs to which human remains detection (HRD) dogs could indicate. These samples were tested using solid-phase microextraction (SPME) and a gas chromatograph-mass spectrometer (GC/MS) for the exact odor profile and compared to literature about VOCs present in decomposition. The author hypothesized that a series of seven target chemical compounds (carbon disulfide, hexanal, nonanal, dimethyl sulfide, dimethyl disulfide, styrene, and benzoic acid methyl ester) would be present when the headspace of all samples tested. Ideally, a synthetic compound that will better mimic human decomposition odor profile can be created to aid in the training of HRD dogs. There are some disadvantages to using dogs in the field, and the lack of standardization when training HRD dogs is a major one. By examining VOC profiles of different sources of decomposition, a core set of VOCs of human decomposition may be identified to aid in the standardization of training. Of the eight target compounds chosen from the literature, only two were found in any samples tested for this experiment, hexanal and nonanal found in pig heart, deer liver, as well as human muscle and epidermis. Acetic acid was identified in every sample with the exception of the control. Also, in accordance with the literature, putrescine and cadaverine were not found in any of the samples.

Estimation of the biological profile from as many skeletal elements as possible is a necessity in both forensic and bioarchaeological contexts; this includes non-standard aspects of the biological profile, such as body mass index (BMI). BMI is a measure that allows for understanding of the composition of an individual and is traditionally divided into four groups: underweight, normal weight, overweight, and obese. BMI estimation incorporates both estimation of stature and body mass. The estimation of stature from skeletal elements is commonly included into the standard biological profile but the estimation of body mass needs to be further statistically validated to be consistently included. The bones of the foot, specifically the first metatarsal, may have the ability to estimate BMI given an allometric relationship to stature and the mechanical relationship to body mass. There are two commonly used methods for stature estimation, the anatomical method and the regression method. The anatomical method takes into account all of the skeletal elements that contribute to stature while the regression method relies on the allometric relationship between a skeletal element and living stature. A correlation between the metrics of the first metatarsal and living stature has been observed, and proposed as a method for valid stature estimation from the boney foot (Byers et al., 1989). Body mass estimation from skeletal elements relies on two theoretical frameworks: the morphometric and the mechanical approaches. The morphometric approach relies on the size relationship of the individual to body mass; the basic relationship between volume, density, and weight allows for body mass estimation. The body is thought of as a cylinder, and in order to understand the volume of this cylinder the diameter is needed. A commonly used proxy for this in the human body is skeletal bi-iliac breadth from rearticulated pelvic girdle. The mechanical method of body mass estimation relies on the ideas of biomechanical bone remodeling; the elements of the skeleton that are under higher forces, including weight, will remodel to minimize stress. A commonly used metric for the mechanical method of body mass estimation is the diameter of the head of the femur. The foot experiences nearly the entire weight force of the individual at any point in the gait cycle and is subject to the biomechanical remodeling that this force would induce. Therefore, the application of the mechanical framework for body mass estimation could stand true for the elements of the foot. The morphometric and mechanical approaches have been validated against one another on a large, geographically disparate population (Auerbach and Ruff, 2004), but have yet to be validated on a sample of known body mass. DeGroote and Humphrey (2011) test the ability of the first metatarsal to estimate femoral head diameter, body mass, and femoral length. The estimated femoral head diameter from the first metatarsal is used to estimate body mass via the morphometric approach and the femoral length is used to estimate living stature. The authors find that body mass and stature estimation methods from more commonly used skeletal elements compared well with the methods developed from the first metatarsal. This study examines 388 `White' individuals from the William M. Bass donated skeletal collection to test the reliability of the body mass estimates from femoral head diameter and bi-iliac breadth, stature from maximum femoral length, and body mass and stature from the metrics of the first metatarsal. This sample included individuals from all four of the BMI classes. This study finds that all of the skeletal indicators compare well with one another; there is no statistical difference in the stature estimates from the first metatarsal and the maximum length of the femur, and there is no statistical between all three of the body mass estimation methods. When compared to the forensic estimates of stature neither of the tested methods had statistical difference. Conversely, when the body mass estimates are compared to forensic body mass there was a statistical difference and when further investigated the most difference in the body mass estimates was in the extremes of body mass (the underweight and obese categories). These findings indicate that the estimation of stature from both the maximum femoral length and the metrics of the metatarsal are accurate methods. Furthermore, the estimation of body mass is accurate when the individual is in the middle range of the BMI spectrum while these methods for outlying individuals are inaccurate. These findings have implications for the application of stature and body mass estimation in the fields of bioarchaeology, forensic anthropology, and paleoanthropology.