ANTHROP 3FA3 Lecture Notes - Lecture 7: Livor Mortis, Algor Mortis, Taphonomy
14 Sep 2016
School
Department
Course
Professor
Document Summary
Do not read table 5. 4-5. 6 in fa ch 5. Postmortem interval (pmi): what happens to the body between death and discovery. Perimortem:at or around the time of death; the time surrounding death; during death. Starts at the point of death: within the moment you die body processes cease. Autolysis: cells destroyed by their own enzymes; degeneration of body tissues by digestive fluids: the stomach lining breaks down, releasing the stomach acids. Putrefaction: bacteria reproduce and start to break down tissues, muscles etc. Rate of cooling affected by: body build, clothing/covering, air movement and humidity, immersion in water. To determine time since death take corpse temperature vs. ambient temperature: corpse temperature can be checked either rectally or intra-abdominally, body temperature = 98. 6 f or 37 c. Average adult corpse loses heat: 1. 5 f/hour in temperate climates, 0. 75 f/hour in tropical climates. Useful up to ~18 hours after death, depending on conditions: livor mortis. Depends on the position of the body.
