Advanced skeletonization of the skull after 1 week of lying on the ground in the woods in summer

Figs.1-2 Advanced skeletonization of the skull after 1 week of lying on the ground in the woods in summer. No further info about this case.

A rule of thumb that goes back to the Berlin forensic physi­cian Johann Ludwig Casper (1796–1864) – named Casper’s rule – says that 1 week in air equals 2 weeks in water equals 8 weeks buried in the ground. Casper’s rule thus relates the decomposition process to different environmental conditions (air, water, earth), but does not allow a precise determination of time of death.

The period up to skeletonization shows great variability, depending on the storage conditions of the body. This con­cept is expressed by Casper’s rule, which says that a cadaver lying on the ground decomposes more quickly than one lying in water or underground, although the ratios Casper gave are certainly also subject to numerous varying conditions. Corpses lying on the surface of the ground are, as a rule, skeletonized within 1 year, and after 2 years the bones are completely free of soft tissues. A considerable proportion of soft part reduction during the summer months results from maggot infestation and animal predation. Under such condi­tions, a cadaver can be completely skeletonized within a few weeks.