Scoring Human Decomposition From Photographs: A Validation Study

Megyesi et al. (2005) is the most widely used method for recording human decomposition stages. The body is divided into three portions (head and neck, trunk, and limbs), which are individually assigned a score based on visually assessing presence or absence of listed criteria. The scores are summed to provide a total body score that correlates to an estimated post mortem stage. While this method was designed for field use, anthropologists frequently receive photographs of decomposing bodies along with a request from law enforcement for an estimation of time since death. Before this method can be implemented using photographs, a validation study must be conducted to determine whether decomposition scoring is as accurate from a photograph as it is from directly visualizing the body. This study is intended to test the accuracy of decomposition scoring from a photograph compared to scores taken in the field. Inter-observer error and intra-observer error are also considered in this study.