Mystery Writers Forum
Life and Death => Death Details => Topic started by: New Writer on November 05, 2006, 12:55:54 PM
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Hi there
In my story I have a situation where an old graveyard is being dug up by Archeologists because a road is being built and they need to move the old graves. They discover three bodies in one grave that are a bit different. These bones would have been in the ground for at least 15-20 years. They were burnt before being thrown into the grave.
Is it possible to distinguish between bones that have been in the ground for 100 years and those that have been there for 20 years?
How long would it take for the flesh to disappear off a body that has been burned? Would all the flesh disappear? What about clothing that has been burned?
I hope someone can help with this!
Thank you
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You need to check with a forensics text on bones. A lot of research has been done, and there are forensics testing places where bones are buried and studied. My guess is that bones will show that the body was burned, but just how badly burned do you want it to be? Seems to me Kathy Reichs does that sort of thing.
Ingrid