title: "Brienzi" - The blue Vivianite man of Switzerland: Time since death estimation of an adipocere body.
abstract: In 1996, a cadaver in adipocere condition was discovered in a bay of the Brienzer See in Switzerland. The torso was named "Brienzi" following the "Iceman" Ötzi. Several outer parts of the body were incrusted; the incrustation was in blue color. Further investigations showed that the bluish covering of parts of the adipocere torso were a mineral known as Vivianite. Vivianite (Fe(3)(PO(4))(2-)(H(2)O)(8)) is an iron phosphate mineral with needle lengths between 100 and 150μm. It is normally associated in a context with organic archaeological and geological materials (some hundreds to millions of years old). Hitherto, it is only described in three cases of human remains. We were able to reconstruct the following facts about 'Brienzi': The man drowned in Lake Brienz or in one of its tributaries during the 1700s. The body was subsequently covered with sedimentation and thus buried under water. An earthquake produced an underwater landslide which eventually exposed the corpse.
authors.affiliation: University of Bern, Institute of Forensic Medicine, Bühlstrasse 20, 3012 Bern, Switzerland. michael.thali@irm.uzh.ch
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Thali
authors.forename: Bettina
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Lux
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Lösch
authors.forename: Friedrich W
authors.initials: FW
authors.lastname: Rösing
authors.forename: Joachim
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hürlimann
authors.forename: Philipp
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Feer
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Dirnhofer
authors.forename: Urs
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Königsdorfer
authors.forename: Ulrich
authors.initials: U
authors.lastname: Zollinger
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000365:Age Determination by Skeleton; D000885:Anthropology, Physical; D002250:Carbon Radioisotopes / Q000032:analysis; D017377:Diatoms; D004332:Drowning / Q000473:pathology*; D055866:Earthquakes; D005296:Ferrous Compounds / Q000737:chemistry*; D018732:Forensic Anthropology / Q000379:methods; D049671:History, 18th Century; D006801:Humans; D007101:Immersion; D060106:Lakes; D055876:Landslides; D008297:Male; D013058:Mass Spectrometry; D010710:Phosphates / Q000737:chemistry*; D011180:Postmortem Changes; D013557:Switzerland
chemical_list: D002250:Carbon Radioisotopes; D005296:Ferrous Compounds; D010710:Phosphates; C518753:ferrous phosphate