19th World Congress of Soil Science Symposium 4.5.2 Soil and Human Culture

Forensic Taphonomy aims to provide information relevant to the courts in cases where cadavers have been allowed to decompose. Here I consider the cadaver’s effects on the burial environment when decomposition occurs on the soil surface or belowground. Significant advances have been made in recent years that have allowed a better understanding of cadaver decomposition, its effect on the burial environment and estimate of post-mortem interval; and these are reviewed in the context of soil-based information. I will propose how established techniques in soil science can be revised for direct applications in forensic taphonomic research that will allow rapid advances in an otherwise understudied field of applied soil science.