Researchers at the Australian Facility for Taphonomic Experimental Research, or AFTER, studied deceased specimens for 17 months using time-lapse cameras. The cameras would capture images every 30 minutes during hours of daylight. According to the research, the corpse showed signs of movement for the entire 17 months.
"What we found was that the arms were significantly moving, so that arms that started off down beside the body ended up out to the side of the body," medical scientist Alyson Wilson of Central Queensland University told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.
Ms. Wilson said that some movement was expected during the early onset of decomposition, however, she was shocked to learn that it continued for months.
"We think the movements relate to the process of decomposition, as the body mummifies and the ligaments dry out," she said. "This knowledge could be significant in unexplained death investigations."
This new discovery could essentially alter the way crime scene investigators analyze and interpret dead bodies. Especially those that have gone undiscovered for considerable amounts of time. Using this method to compile more detailed data, could soon help authorities analyze crime scenes with more accuracy.
Current protocol for forensic personnel states that unless a body was disturbed after the time of death-by humans or animals-then the position of the body coincides with the time of death.
Seeing as Wilson's time-lapse decomposition study is the first of its kind, this is also the first time that previous ideas of deceased body positioning is coming in to question.
The research follows previous published work that can be found in Forensic Science International: Synergy. However, a paper regarding this particular discovery has yet to be published.
The research was initially conducted to help further the understanding of post-mortem interval, or the length of time since death. The images captured were compared against a system of allocating points that measure the levels of decomposition.
The previously established system matched up to what Wilson and her colleagues were seeing through the images. This, in turn, validated the techniques and methods that were being used and essentially proved that time-lapse photography is a valuable tool in forensic science.
With the help of an improved statistical database, forensic scientists could reconstruct the corpse to the exact position at the time of death, increasing the chances of determining exactly what transpired.
"They'll map a crime scene, they'll map the victim's body position, they'll map any physical evidence which is found, and they can understand the cause of death," Wilson told AFP.
