title: The assessment of adipocere to estimate the post-mortem interval - a skeleton from the tidelands.
abstract: This paper discusses the discovery of a skeletonized water corpse with hollow bones filled with adipocere found in the tidelands of the river Elbe close to Otterndorf (Wesermarsch, Cuxhaven). Through macroscopic and microscopic methods, the existing adipocere was described. The post-mortem interval was assessed by a comparison of the radiocarbon data and the indications about the preservation of adipocere from the literature. The investigation has shown that the knowledge of post-mortem changes in adipocere within bone structures is still incomplete, especially for the assessment of water corpses with long post-mortem intervals.
authors.affiliation: Department of Legal Medicine, University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf, Butenfeld 34, 22529 Hamburg.
authors.forename: Eilin
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Jopp-van Well
authors.affiliation: Department of Legal Medicine, University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf, Butenfeld 34, 22529 Hamburg.
authors.forename: Christa
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Augustin
authors.affiliation: Department of Osteology and Biomechanics, University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Björn
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Busse
authors.affiliation: Department of Legal Medicine, University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf, Butenfeld 34, 22529 Hamburg.
authors.forename: Andreas
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Fuhrmann
authors.affiliation: Department of Osteology and Biomechanics, University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf, Hamburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hahn
authors.affiliation: Institute of Legal Medicine and Forensic Sciences, Charité - University Medical Centre Berlin, Berlin, Germany.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tsokos
authors.affiliation: Institute of Legal Medicine, University Medical Centre Frankfurt, Frankfurt, Germany.
authors.forename: Marcel
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Verhoff
authors.affiliation: Department of Legal Medicine, University Medical Centre Hamburg-Eppendorf, Butenfeld 34, 22529 Hamburg.
authors.forename: Friedrich
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Schulz
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000885:Anthropology, Physical; D001344:Autopsy; D001842:Bone and Bones / Q000473:pathology*; D005858:Germany; D049671:History, 18th Century; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D011180:Postmortem Changes; D055110:Radiometric Dating; D045483:Rivers