The image is of a body at the bodyfarm at The University of Tennessee Anthropology Research Facility. The first day of scavenging on this individual occurred 17 days after late fall placement. The first evidence of raccoon activity was scratches on the right scapular region, but no points of entry were observed, and no oviposition was present on the remains. On Day 2 of scavenging the right ear was scavenged, and the left lower and upper arm was scavenged extensively resulting in bone exposure.
Fig.1 Body at the bodyfarm at The University of Tennessee Anthropology Research Facility.
Fig.2 Completely skeletal arm with a strand of skin left that still attached the wrist to the shoulder girdle.
By Day 3, the arm was completely skeletal with a strand of skin left that still attached the wrist to the shoulder girdle, and the right side of the face exhibited bone exposure (due to scavenging not insect activity). Throughout ten days there were six points of entry on both arms and legs in addition to the facial trauma. By Day 10, the skull was more than half exposed although the hair remained intact on the left side of the skull.
Fig.3 The right side of the face exhibited bone exposure due to scavenging.
Fig.4 Scratches on the back from raccoons.
The University of Tennessee Anthropology Research Facility (ARF) is famous as a facility for study of the decomposition of human remains, with human corpses laid outside in different settings and their changes recorded. This has a forensic focus, but a study of the soil, with its long-term history of continuous decomposition, has found it to be fairly uniformly enriched by high-quality nutrients, compared with the soil outside the facility. This raises the question of whether generalised fertilising of a site which was also used for grass or grazing could be achieved by simple, shallow burial at the right density.
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