Djuna Elkan
5/12/13
ANTH 485
Taphonomy Write-up
The probability of examining human remains as they go through decomposition in
undergraduate research is very, very slim. But by getting permission from a local Humboldt
resident we were able to obtain a recently deceased felid to observe. We wanted to answer the
question: What are the physical changes to a decomposing felid between the months of February
and May in Arcata, California? We decided to analyze the soil as well as the decomposition of
the flesh itself over this two and a half month period. This paper discusses the process of amateur
taphonomy research. When presented with the prospect of studying amateur remains of a cat that
had died eight months earlier, Danielle Santos and I decided to do our own project by identifying
the stages of decomposition and observing along the way.
Methodology
The cat that we were given was a friend of ours who was also interested in the research
we wanted to do. She gave us full access to do what we wanted to with the remains. After
unburying them from a grave that had been dug only eight months earlier, the remains were still
wet looking, not very decomposed, and quite smelly. She had placed the remains into a plastic
flowerpot to store until our secure pen was set up.
Because the yard that we were going to use for our observation had other animals that
used it regularly, we wanted to make a fence around the specimen to ensure the safety of our
research. It was created with mesh chicken wire shown in our presentation. This made it so we
could take pictures and check on the specimen without taking it from the safety of the enclosure.
We wanted to place the remains above ground so that we could observe the remains daily and
also so they would decompose faster. We decided to take pictures as much as we could, at least
every week, if not every day. We would also check the median temperature every week to see if
1
Galloway’s Stages
any of our observations correlated with the temperature. By examining this it would give us an
idea of what we would see in similar decomposition scenarios during those times of the year.
Results
After assembling the secure area around the specimen we started to observe it. Our
observation started on the 23 of February. The specimen, as said earlier, was not very
decomposed at this stage. They appeared very moist, there wasn’t any bone showing yet and
smelled very much. Within the first week though we saw some bone exposure of the ulna, radius,
some ribs and a white mold began to form. Since it was on the furry part of the remains it
probably wasn’t adeposere. We dubbed this stage seven of the Galloway’s stages1.
By the third week we started to see some softening of the tissue, which made the bones
look more outlined by the flesh still covering them. More bones were becoming visible such as,
the right femur, fibula, tibia, some thoracic and lumbar vertebrae were also becoming more
noticeable. This pattern continued for several weeks after, the tissue slowly became less
abundant while the bones began to be more visible. By week four the vegetation that was
growing around the specimen had started to interact with it. The nutrients that the specimen was
releasing probably spurred the growth of the plants around it. This also helped because the plants
were in need of nutrients so the flesh was becoming less visible in the places where plant life was
involved.
From weeks five through week eight a strange amount of green discoloration grew
around the paws and neck, eventually spreading to the entire abdomen. This we agreed could be
because of the amount of rainfall, which will be discussed later. Through this long span of time
more bone exposure around the abdomen was becoming more visible, and eventually we agreed
by the end of week eight that the specimen was at stage nine of Galloway’s stages.
Elkan
ANTH 485
Unfortunately a dog got at our research and we ran out of time before our presentation to
continue our experiment. We found most of the remains in some grass and were able to
determine that some ribs, phalanges, a patella, and some other bones were salvageable.
Discussion
We found that the climate in February and March was both wet, with a average rain fall
of 5.57” and temperatures below 60 degrees.2 This may have made the changes in color on the
fur that we saw in the fourth through eighth week of observation. The amount of changes that
occurred otherwise was at about the rate that we expected. We were surprised at how long it
actually takes for remains that are above ground in a wet environment to fully decompose. It
would probably take another few months of warmer weather for the remains to get to at least
stage eleven of Galloway’s stages of decomposition.
From what we understood the weather has a very large effect on how quickly
decomposition occurs. In much dryer climates mummification, as well as, decomposition happen
much quicker due to the lack of moisture and the constant sunlight. Because Arcata, CA is a very
wet environment with low humidity and high amounts of fog the remains cannot mummify as
quickly if at all. In the end we did see more bone exposure, but not to the extent that you would
expect to see with this type of experiment if it was dryer.
Conclusion
Although we could not observe the entire decomposition of these remains, we had the
chance too experience how it is done on a much smaller level. We take into consideration that we
have not been professionally trained in these techniques, but we have strived to make the best of
what we have and what we know. In the beginning of this project we were hoping to have a fully
2
http://www.weather.com/weather/wxclimatology/monthly/graph/95521
skeletonized set of remains by the end of our project. Unfortunately this was not the case. The
information that we did gain from the research we did made it easier for us to understand what to
do next time we do research like this.
Bibliography

“Monthly Averages for Arcata, CA”. Weather.com. TRUSTe. Web. 1995-2012.

Megyesi, Mary S.; Stephen P. Nawrocki; Neal H. Haskell. Using Accumulated
Degree-Days to Estimate the Postmortem Interval from Decomposed Human
Remains. Journal of Forensic Science. May 2005. Paper.