What happens on the 'body farm'?

Most of what is known scientifically about the decomposition of bodies has been learnt from research at the 'body farm'. At this outdoor laboratory – properly known as the University of Tennessee Forensic Anthropology Facility – scientists study what happens to human bodies after death.

Since it was set up by forensic anthropologist William Bass in 1971, some 300 corpses have been observed. The bodies, which are either donated to science or have been left unclaimed after an accident, may be put in a car boot, left in sun or shade, buried in shallow graves, covered with brush or submerged in ponds.

Researchers observe the insects that colonise the corpse – for example, maggots are attracted to wounds, followed by ants. Biochemists analyse the breakdown of proteins in the organs, looking at how body fats degenerate, leak out and affect any vegetation in the body's immediate vicinity. Put together, all these factors give an idea of when and how the person died.

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