Taphonomic effects on a hanged man. Case report

Abstract

Introduction: in the corpses that remain outdoors there is a confluence of taphonomic agents: necrophagous (insects, canid rodents, birds), abiotic (humidity, precipitation, temperature) and anthropic elements that could be related to the circumstances of death and body management. In the hanged, the very position of the corpse limits access to ghouls and the effect of the weight of the body itself generates postmortem changes very different from those of a body lying on the ground.

Objective: presentation of a case where taphonomic events caused different changes in the same corpse.

Presentation of the case: it is about the discovery of a corpse corresponding to a hanged subject, with parts of the body in skeletal reduction and others in corification, where the effect of the position of the body, the weather and the clothing, caused the action of the scavengers would be affected. All these taphonomic factors made it possible for the same corpse to show different postmortem changes, corification and skeletal reduction, elements that are not common in the natural environment.

Conclusions: the taphonomy in the hangings shows very particular characteristics that differ from the rest of the cases. The joint work of the forensic doctors made it possible to interpret the observed postmortem changes, to clarify their cause, as well as to corroborate the cause of death and basic elements for the identity of the corpse