HUMAN IDENTIFICATION

Case Studies in
Forensic Anthropology

Edited by
TED A. RATHBUN, Ph.D.
Department of Anthropology
University of South Carolina
Columbia, South Carolina

and

jANE E. BUIKSTRA, Ph.D.

Department of Anthropology
Northwestern University
Evanston, Illinois

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Human identification.

Bibliography: p.
Includes index.
1. Forensic anthropology — Case studies. 2. Criminal
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II. Buikstra, Jane E.
GN69.8.H85 1984 614M 83-24268 - V: . -
ISBN 0-398-04875-4
 Chapter 11

TIME INTERVAL SINCE DEATH

A Difficult Decision

WILLIAM M . BASS

^ ^ ^ h e n law enforcement agents ask the help of a forensic anthropologist,

one of their first questions is "How old is it?" Actually, two questions
relating to age are involved: (1) How old was the individual when he or she
died and (2) How long has the individual been dead? The second question is
much more complicated and difficult, since few comparative data exist and
there are many yet unresolved problems.
This case study, illustrating problems in estimating the time interval
since death, has two beginnings—the first on a cold, rainy, and wind-blown
day, December 16,1864, and the second on a cold Friday morning, December
30, 1977.

R E M O V A L O F BODY

I will begin with the 1977 day and follow the forensic sequence of events
as they actually occurred. Late Thursday afternoon December 29, 1977,
I received a call from Detective Captain Jeff Long of the Williamson
County Sheriffs Office in Franklin, Tennessee requesting aid in the identi-
fication of a recently discovered body in a disturbed grave. Arrangements
were made to meet Captain Long on Friday morning, December 30, at
10:30 A M .
That day was cold with a slight mist blowing from low-hanging clouds. On
the way to the scene in Franklin, Tennessee, Captain Long explained that a
grave in a family cemetery in the backyard of an old home had been
disturbed and contained what appeared to be decaying human remains. We
proceeded to the location, a large brick mansion that originally had been the
Shy home in the middle 1800s. The backyard cemetery contained several
marked graves. When I first observed the scene, a large hole was covered by a
4 by 8 foot sheet of plywood over a grave marked:
136
 Time Interval Since Death 137

Lt. Coi:W.M. Shy

20th Tenn.
Infantry C.S.A.
Born May 24, 1838
Killed at Battle of
Nashville
Dec. 16, 1864

Beneath the plywood lay a decaying body with no head and various
articles of decaying clothing. We used the plywood sheet as a platform on
which to lay the bones and began to articulate the skeleton. The smell of
decaying flesh was strong, and most of the bystanders stood back as I climbed
down into the hole and began removing bits and pieces of clothing, tissue,
and bones.
We began to clean out the disturbed soil and expose the body. Decay had
advanced to the stage where various parts of the body were no longer in
anatomical order, i.e. the legs were separated from the pelvis and the arms
were separated from the thoracic cage. Sections of the vertebra were still held
together by ligaments, as were the arms at the elbows and the legs at the
knees. Neither the skull nor the mandible was present.
My initial impression was that this adult male was originally placed in a
squatting position on top of the cast iron coffin after those who dug the hole
had broken a 1 by 2 foot hole in the top of the cast iron coffin. As the body
decayed, it had fallen into the Civil War coffin. It was difficult to remove this
body because of the small dimensions of the grave, the wet conditions of the
ground (mud), the partial disarticulation of the decomposed remains, and
the smaller hole in the cast iron coffin through which the lumbar and sacral
elements of the spinal column as well as parts of the lower legs had descended.
Associated with the decaying body were fragments of a tuxedo type of shirt,
vest, coat, pants, and a white cloth glove from the right hand.
The skeletal material with associated tissue was arranged in anatomical
order. I cut pink flesh from the femur, and the small and large intestines
were still morphologically identifiable. I tentatively identified the skeleton
at the scene as a male, age 25 to 28, who had possibly been dead from 6 to 12
months. The latter decision was based on the odor and amount of decaying
flesh.
At this stage of the investigation, we discussed the possibility that the body
was that of Colonel Shy. However, this idea was dismissed because of what I
refer to as mind set. Mind set refers to preconceived ideas from earlier

"Shy was actually a Colonel at the time of his death, apparently having been raised from Lieutenant-
Colonel just prior to his death; the family may not have known of his latest promotion (Dowd 1980:61).
138 Human Identification

experiences that tend to obstruct a clear and analytical analysis.

In the summer of 1973, I had moved a German Lutheran cemetery near
Wartburg, Tennessee for the Tennessee Highway Department. This ceme-
tery had been used from 1842 to 1891. A l l of the skeletal remains of the
approximate 17 graves we located and removed could have been held in both
hands. My frame of reference (or mind set) was that burials from the Civil
War period would be extensively decomposed and certainly would not have
pink tissue associated with the bones. Previous excavation of early coffin
burials in South Dakota and Tennessee had produced fully skeletonized
material of a dark brown color.

ANADfSIS O F M A T E R I A L

After the bones, tissue, and clothing had been removed from the hole over
Colonel Shy's grave late afternoon of December 30, we left the clothing for
analysis at the State Crime Laboratory in Donelson, Tennessee. The cloth-
ing was too odiferous to be taken inside the laboratory, so it was sorted
outside on the driveway—a cold task, as the sun was setting and the tempera-
ture was dropping into the low 30s.
On Monday, January 2, 1978, the bones that had been removed to my
laboratory in Knoxville were placed in a heated vat to aid in tissue removal.
By noon I detected the smell of embalming fluids coming from the vat. I was
startled by this and began to rethink the original conclusion that this was not
the skeleton of Colonel Shy.
In the meantime, arrangements had been made to extend the excavation
and remove Colonel Shy's coffin. After the removal of the bones, tissue, and
clothing on Friday and cleaning out the hole above the coffin, I was held by
my feet and lowered head first into the opening in the top of the coffin so
that I could look toward both the head and foot of Colonel Shy's casket. I was
unable to locate a body; however, no attempt was made to inspect the inch or
two of debris and decayed matter on the bottom of the coffin. The appear-
ance of this material also tended to reinforce my feeling that the bones in
Civil War graves from Tennessee would have disintegrated. Since no skull or
mandible was present with the material recovered above the coffin and no
skull was seen at the head of Colonel Shy's casket, I believed the burial of
Colonel Shy and the body found over his grave were not associated. However,
when the coffin was excavated on the following Monday, we discovered that
the skull had fractured into 17 pieces from the force of a shot that caused
instant death. The tissue over the head did not hold embalming fluids
because of two large holes in the skull, and as the tissue decayed the
skull fell apart. These pieces were hidden from view in the inch or two
 Time Interval Since Death 139

of debris and decaying material on the floor of the coffin.

By late afternoon of Monday, January 2, 1978, three separate events had
occurred that allowed us to make a correct determination: (A) We had
discovered that Colonel Shy's coffin contained a fragmentary skull and
mandible. (B) The State Crime Laboratory had found no synthetic fibers,
and all of the cloth was cotton. (C) We had noted that the tissue and skeletal
material that I had brought back had been embalmed. The original field
analysis of a 25 to 28-year-old male who was thought to have been dead from
6 to 12 months was then changed to a 26-year-old male who had been dead
113 years. Though my determination of age at death was entirely accurate,
my estimate of length of time since death had been off by 112 years!

C O L O N E L SHY'S D E A T H

An excellent history of the battle of Nashville and the death of Colonel

Shy has been written by Dowd (1980:47-72). William Mabry Shy, one of ten
children, was born in Bourbon County, Kentucky, on May 24, 1838. His
family moved to the home in Williamson County, Tennessee, where the
family cemetery was located. He enlisted as a private at the inception of
Company H of the 20th Tennessee Infantry. It is reported that he was a man
of quiet disposition, a man of deeds rather than words, and he rose through
the ranks to Colonel by the time of his death of December 16, 1864.
He was killed in the battle of Compton's Hill at Nashville, Tennessee.
The battered Confederates still were in possession of Compton's Hill on the
afternoon of the second day. They were surrounded on three sides by thou-
sands of Union soldiers, and the marooned Rebels were receiving fire from
all angles; many were shot in the back. Dowd states (1980:59):
Around 4:00 p.m. it began to rain. The defenders had not slept. They were tired,
cold, wet and hungry, but still they fought on. The rain was now coming down in sheets
and it was getting much colder. They knew the enemy was massing at the foot of the hill
for a full scale attack but could do nothing about it. Suddenly the massive Federal attack
that had been building all day began. There were a few minutes of violent fighting and
then it was all over. They came so fast with so many that the small force atop the hill
was completely overwhelmed. The entire command of defenders was practically
annihilated, only 65 individuals escaped (Horn 1968:127). Colonel William M . Shy,
and nearly half of his men, were killed while bravely defending this hill (later this hill
was to be called Shy's H i l l as a tribute for his gallant stand and heroic death).

After the battle, Compton's (Shy's) H i l l was covered with the dead and
wounded from both sides. Among them was Colonel Shy, dead at the age of
26, with a minnie ball to the brain (Fig. 11-1). Marshall's account of the
Battle of Nashville states that he was shot at close range, "his head being
powder-burned around the hole made by the shot" (Marshall, 1912:522).
140 Human Identification

Colonel Shy's death was reported to his family, and Dowd (1980:61)
says: . •.:
Being unmarried the unpleasant chore of recovering his body fell to his parents.
Colonel Shy's mother and father were divided in their sympathies toward the war; she
siding with the South and he with the North... .
The area around the Shy farm was still in turmoil due to the recent Battle of Franklin
and this confusion was greatly magnified by the retreat and pursuit of the fleeing
Confederate army after the Battle of Nashville. For a civilian to obtain permission to
travel the busy and cluttered roads into Nashville was near impossible. Fearing to cross
through the Union lines the Shy family solicited the help of their close friend, Dr.
Daniel B. Cliffe, who held an influential position in the community. . . .
Dr. Cliffe made arrangements for his wife, Mrs. Virginia Cliffe, to go to Nashville to
recover Colonel Shy's body. Why he sent his wife instead of going himself is not
entirely clear. He might have been unable to leave at this time due to the fact that he
was urgently needed to tend the many wounded at Franklin.. . .
Colonel Shy was brought home and laid to rest in the family cemetery at Two Rivers,
near Franklin, Tennessee. Since Dr. Cliffe was a good friend of the family and was
skilled in the art of embalming, he very likely embalmed the body of Colonel Shy.
The body was placed in a cast iron coffin for burial.

ANALYSIS

What can be learned from this experience? Little appears in the literature
concerning the time interval since death. Stewart devotes only seven and a
half pages out of 300 to means of determining time since death and states
that "there is no escaping the fact that, for most skeletonized remains,
estimation of time since death usually is little more than an educated guess"
(1979:71). Other texts in forensic anthropology, Krogman (1962) and El-Najjar
and McWilliams (1978), devote less space to criteria for determining time
since death. The discussions that do exist do not deal with embalmed bodies.
Those of us who have practiced as forensic anthropologists are aware of
the pitfalls of making a hasty, tentative identification. It is difficult to refuse
to make any decisions when the law enforcement officer brings to your
laboratory the bones of an unknown individual and seeks a rapid identifica-
tion so that his investigation can proceed. However, this case serves as an
example of how attempting such an analysis in the field on a cold, rainy day
with muddy specimens and incomplete evidence can lead to a marked
misinterpretation of the time interval since death. I therefore advise the
following.
First, forensic analysis should be based on a careful study of the material
with a clear and open mind to all of the possibilities. As stated before, we
considered, while in the field, that this could have been Colonel Shy's body,
but because of previous experience with Civil War period graves (mind set),
I was of the opinion that very little would have remained of the skeleton and
thus discarded this possibility. I knew that the bodies from the German
 Time Interval Since Death 141

Figure 11-1. Photographs of the reconstructed skull of Col. William M . Shy, a Confederate
ofhcer killed in the battle of Nashville, Tennessee, in 1864. a. Norma frontalis, b. Norma
lateralis, c. Norma verticalis. d. Norma occipitalis.
142 Human Identification

Lutheran cemetery were not embalmed and had been buried in pine boxes
and that the p H of the soil at the Wartburg Ceinetery was 4.8—well into the
acid range and a major cause for skeletal decay. I had little experience with
embalmed bodies, and this was my first encounter with a well-sealed cast
iron coffin that apparently had not leaked.
Second, all of the evidence should be considered before a statement is
made. We should have completely excavated the coffin on Friday. We would
have then recovered the skull and from at least three pieces of evidence from
the cranial bones (the fractured skull, the color of the cranial fragments, and
the nature of wound to the skull) made a correct analysis.
The cranial bones were dark brown, almost chocolate in color. Previous
experiences with coffin burial (post-Civil War graves from army forts in
South Dakota and burials from Tennessee) indicated that skeletonized bones
in coffins are often dark brown in color. The postcranial skeleton of Colonel
Shy did not show this color because the bones were covered with tissue.
Historical records should have been checked immediately. The wound to
the head matched that described for Colonel Shy. Although the skull was in
seventeen pieces and had to be restored (see Fig. 11-1), it was readily appar-
ent that this individual had died from trauma to the head with the entry
wound above the left eye and the exit wound in the back of the left parietal.
Comparison of this wound with published accounts of Colonel Shy's death
would have matched. The great force from this shot caused extensive frac-
tures and shattered the entire skull. The force was great enough to split both
mastoid processes in an anterior-posterior direction so that the lateral sec-
tions of both mastoids were fractured away from the medial halves.
An analysis of the dentition would have provided additional information.
The most memorable difference between the forensic cases I had in Kansas
and those in Tennessee has been in the larger number of caries and dental
pathologies present in the southern cases. Differences in the diet, dental
care, and heredity are evident in the poor condition of the teeth.
There were no fillings in Colonel Shy's teeth. Four teeth, the maxillary
left second premolar, the mandibular right second, and the left first and
second molars, were missing before death and with advanced alveolar
resorption. Cavities varied from small to large in most of the remaining
premolar and molar teeth. Extensive caries without attempts at dental care
are, however, seldom seen in modern forensic cases of individuals of this age.
Dental restorations for cavities did not exist in the middle 1800s, so the
condition of Colonel Shy's dentition should immediately have been a clue.
Other than an excellent job of embalming and burial in a sealed cast iron
coffin, I cannot explain the excellent preservation of the soft tissue. Lack of
previous experience with these, the unfavorable field conditions, and pres-
sure for immediate answers all contributed to my making an initial observa-
tion that this was a recent death. Three days later, when all of the evidence
 Time Interval Since Death 143

had been analyzed, our mistake was noted and a correct interpretation
made.

T I M E SINCE D E A T H '

As stated earlier, there is little in anthropological literature on the time

interval since death. At the Forensic Science meeting in New Orleans in
1980, Morse and Stoutamire (1980:96) reported on the determination of the
time since death by the degree of deterioration of associated material (clothing,
shoes, leather items, etc.) where the items had been exposed to the elements
in Florida. At that same meeting, Charles P. Warren (1980:97) discussed the
role that plants and related decomposition vectors played on human skeletal
remains from Southeast Asia.
Although not directly related to the determination of time interval since
death, Sublett (1966) studied 554 skeletons, the most recent of which died in
1938, from Seneca Indian sites and cemeteries. A paper emphasizing decay
rates after death was given by Sublett (1967) at the American Association of
Physical Anthropologists meeting in Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
In Ubelaker's analysis of the skeletons (1974b:154) from an ossuary along
Nanjemoy Creek in Maryland, he discusses decomposition rates (1974a:66).
He also found little data on rate of body tissue decomposition and especially
for prehistoric scaffold situations. Ubelaker (1974a:66) states:
Bodies placed by the mid-Atlantic Indians in death houses or scaffolds may have
been protected from many scavengers, but bacteria, maggots, and perhaps birds would
insure that decomposition and defleshing would proceed rapidly. Thus, even allowing
for deaths during the winter months, it is doubtful that lower-leg bone articulation
could have been maintained longer than eight months after death.

During the excavation of many prehistoric American Indian graves from

the Northern Plains, we observed fly pupae with some graves and not others.
This led us (Gilbert and Bass 1967:534-535) to postulate the possibility of
seasonal dating of burials from the presence of fly pupae. Motter (1898:226-229)
has the best discussion known to me on insects and flies associated with
buried bodies. Motter (1898:227) recognized the problems of insect associa-
tion when he noted:
That the presence of certain insects on a cadaver may indicate the exposure of that
cadaver to a temperature favorable to the functional activity of these insects, is a
conclusion wholly legitimate, and not without entomologic interest. Can it have any
Medico-legal weight? To go before a Court of Law and to swear that because a Muscid
was found upon a disinterred human cadaver, that cadaver might have been interred in
June, but could not have been interred in January, would be to fly in the face of facts and
to assert a proposition controverted by practical experience.

Responding to the article by Gilbert and Bass, Ubelaker and Willey

(1978:69-74) suggest that Arikara mortuary practices were more complex
144 Human Identification

and that the presence or absence of fly pupae in a grave does not allow a
determination of season of burial in all cases." T. K. Marshall (1968:80-107)
provides a good summary of changes to the body after death.
Most of the literature dealing with decay rates of carcasses appears in the
entomological or ecological journals and has to do with insect activity.
Readers should check this literature for their particular state, region, or
climatic condition, since temperature and seasonal changes are major factors
in insect activity. The following references are related to the climate and
weather of the Tennessee or mid-south region.
A doctoral dissertation by Reed (1953) on insects that attack decaying dog
carcasses in east Tennessee lists 55 references. Of these 55 references, only
one (Motter 1898:201-231) specifically deals with human cadavers. Motter
observed the disinterment of 150 bodies in Washington, D.C. in the summers
of 1896 and 1897. The skeletal material was deposited in the U.S. National
Museum. Motter (1898:203) states:
So varied and so numerous are the modifying conditions and circumstances that it is
impossible to say, definitely and absolutely, what is the exact order of disappearance of
the several organs and tissues. Looking at the problem from the opposite standpoint, it
seems that the bones and the hair are the last to undergo disintegration. I have found
the bones, after an interment of seventy-one years, still preserving their general form
and appearance, though easily crushed between thumb and fingers; the hair I have
seen practically intact after thirty-six years. The brain I have found a still recognizable
grayish mass, lying within the skull after all the other soft tissues had disappeared and
the skeleton had been completely disarticulated. Indeed, I have found it, after eighteen
years and two months (No. 136), lying on the occipital bone after the skull itself had
fallen apart. Strange to say, the spinal cord seems to disappear much earlier; I have
failed to find any vestige of it —in one case (No. 6) —after three years and five months.
The skin and the more superficial connective tissues of the trunk and extremities are
converted into a sort of case of adipocere, which preserves the general outline of the
cadaver long after the internal organs, and the muscles and tendons even have been
completely destroyed and the skeleton within stripped and disarticulated. Under ordi-
nary conditions of interment, some, at least, of this adipocere may persist for ten or
twelve years, remaining longest about the pelvis and lower part of the abdomen. I have
been able to recognize the skin, fasciae, muscles, tendons, vessels and nerves of the
thigh in one cadaver (No. 44) after six years and five months; while, on the other hand,
in another case (No. 40) the muscles had entirely disappeared after six years and three
months. In most of the cases observed, the thoracic and abdominal organs seem to have
disappeared before the muscles. The face, hands and feet seem to be the first parts
attacked; I recall at least one instance where the skull was entirely stripped while as yet
there seemed to be but little change elsewhere.

Motter, in his studies, found great variation in the rate of decay, and none
of his observations appear to have been on an embalmed body buried in a
well-sealed cast iron coffin.
Reed's (1953) study of decaying dog carcasses, placed at intervals of about
two weeks in hot weather and less frequently in cooler weather, revealed that
 Time Interval Since Death 145

the total arthropod populations were largest in summer. However, certain

species reached their heights of population during the cooler parts of the
year. The dog carcasses were placed in pairs in both wooded and nonwooded
areas. Insect populations in general were smaller in the nonwooded areas
than in the wooded areas, but Reed found (1958:213-245) that decay was
more rapid in open areas compared with that in wooded areas (possibly due
to increased temperature).
Jerry A. Payne (1965:592-602) conducted a summer carrion study of the
baby pig (Sus scrofa) in a hardwood-pine community at Clemson, South
Carolina. Six stages of decomposition were delimited for carrion exposed to
arthropods: flesh, bloated, active decay, advanced decay, dry, and remains.
He found that carrion free of insects decomposed and dried slowly.
Payne (1965:592) found: "A definite ecological succession occurred among
the fauna of carrion. Each stage of decay was characterized by a particular
group of arthropods, each of which occupied a particular niche. Their
activities were influenced by physical properties of carrion, rapidity of
putrefaction, time of day, and weather." Motter's (1898:228) research on
buried bodies from Washington, D.C. led him to state that the modifying
conditions were "far too numerous and conflicting" and "the conditions vary
far too widely to be thus comprehended in any concise, unqualified manner"
(1898:227).
Payne and his associates have published extensively on the insect succes-
sion and decomposition of pig carcasses. Payne, Mead, and King (1968:565-567)
report on Hemiptera associated with pig carrion; Payne, King, and Beinhart
(1968:1180-1181) on arthropod succession and decomposition of buried pigs;
Payne and King (1970:224-232) on Coleoptera associated with pig carrion and
(1972:153-162) with insect succession and decomposition of pig carcasses in
water; and Payne and Mason (1971:132-141) on Hymenoptera associated with
pig carrion.

SUMMARY

It should be evident that we have much research yet to conduct to be able

to determine the length of time since death. Many factors influence the rate
of decay; some have received only initial interest and many others have not
been investigated at all. My experience with the Colonel Shy case points out
the need to investigate factors involved in determining the time interval
since death.
You may have wondered what happened to Colonel Shy. This summary
would not be complete unless we conclude the scenario surrounding the
events of his disturbance and final burial.
146 Human Identification

The police investigation indicates that Colonel Shy's grave was vandalized
by individuals seeking Civil War items such as buttons, swords, etc. No one
has ever been held accountable for disturbing the grave, and Dowd (1980:69)
states:
Many of the local residents are sure that they know the identity of the vandal but this
does not necessarily mean that they are correct. The vandal may have escaped punish-
ment from the law but he will probably have nightmares for the rest of his life over this
gruesome deed.
After reconstructing the fragmentary skull (Fig. 11-1), Colonel Shy's re-
mains were gathered from labs across the state, and plans were made for his
reburial. Dowd (1980:66-67) says:
Shy had not married and had no living descendants but other relatives were contacted
and told of the upcoming ceremony. Mrs. W. J. Montana, a great-great-granddaughter
of Colonel Shy's brother came to Franklin from Silsbee, Texas, to represent the family.
The following is a newspaper article, in part, that describes the ceremony:

On Monday the 13th day of February, 1978, a cold rain was falling. The weather
was probably much like as it was at the original burial, 114 years ago. The service was
brief. There was no drumroU or rifle salute. Six civilian-dressed members of the Sons
of the Confederacy carried the gray coffin to its resting place. Members of the D.A.C.
were also on hand with Confederate flags, and one was placed on the grave. The Rev.
Charles Fulton of St. Paul's Episcopal Church said a short eulogy over the Shy coffin,
donated by the Franklin Memorial Chapel. Mrs. Montana praised Franklin's histori-
cal community for its warmth and sincerity. She remarked, "I guess he could have
been put back in the ground in a pine box, but the people of Franklin gave a very
warm ceremony". (Lyons 1978)

The cast iron coffin that had originally contained the body of Colonel Shy had been
severely damaged by the grave-robbers. Mrs. Montana graciously donated the cast iron
coffin to the Carter House, a prominent home that was at the center of the heaviest
fighting during the Battle of Franklin. The Carter House is now run by the Association
for the Preservation of Tennessee Antiquities and has been turned into a famous Civil
War Museum.
Cast iron coffins were very expensive and only people of some prominence could
have afforded them; most people in 1864 were buried in pine boxes. This cast iron
coffin weighs almost 300 pounds and has a glass plate over the face area for viewing the
remains. It has an oval iron plate that fits over the glass just before burial. The coffin
was sealed and bolted with steel screws and has four handles on each side. It had been
painted white when originally used.

REFERENCES

Dowd, John T. (1980). The Investigation of the Vandalized Graves of Two Historic Personages:
Osceola, Seminole War Chief, and Colonel William M . Shy, Civil War Hero. Tennessee
Anthropologist, 5:47-72.
El-Najjar, Mohmoud Y. and K. Richard McWilliams (1978). Forensic Anthropology. Charles C
Thomas, Springfield, Illinois.
 Time Interval Since Death 147

Gilbert, B. Miles and William M . Bass (1967). Seasonal dating of bxu-ials from the presence of
fly pupae. American Antiquity, 32:534-535.
Krogman, Wilton M . (1962). The Human Skeleton in Forensic Medicine. Charles C Thomas,
Springfield, Illinois.
Lyons, David (1978). Nashville Banner, February 14, 1978, Nashville, Tennessee.
Marshall, Park (1912). The Confederate Veteran. Vol. 20, No. 11, Nashville, Tennessee.
Marshall, T. K. (1968). Changes After Death. In F E. Camps (Ed.): Gradwohl's Legal Medicine,
2nd ed. Bristol; John Wright and Son, Ltd.
Morse, Dan and James W. Stoutamire (1980). Determination of the time of death by the degree
of deterioration of associated material. Abstract, Program American Academy of Forensic
Sciences, 32nd Annual Meeting, New Orleans, Louisiana.
Motter, Murray G. (1898). A contribution to the study of the fauna of the grave. A study of one
hundred and fifty disinterments, with some additional experimental observations. Journal
of the New York Entomological Society, 6:201-231.
Payne, Jerry A. (1965). A summer carrion study of the baby pig Sus Scrofa Linnaeus. Ecology,
46:592-602.
Payne, Jerry A., Frank W. Mead and Edwin W. King (1968). Hemiptera associated with pig
carrion. Annals of the Entomological Society of America, 6i:565-567.
Payne, Jerry A., Edwin W. King and George Beinhart (1968). Arthropod succession and
decomposition of buried pigs. Nature, 279:1180-1181.
Payne, Jerry A. and Edwin W. King (1970). Coleoptera associated with pig carrion. Entomologist's
Monthly Magazine, 705:224-232.
(1972). Insect succession and decomposition of pig carcasses in water. Journal of the
Georgia Entomological Society, 7:153-162.
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