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A serious issue faced in South Africa is the resolution of crime, one matter arising being the identification of deceased individuals. South Africa has a high number of missing and murdered people, with 20,883 murder cases reported across South Africa from April 2023 to December 2023 (SAPS, 2023). Within the same period, the Western Cape Province (WCP) alone had 3,404 murders reported (SAPS, 2023). The Salt River Mortuary (SRM) or Observatory Forensic Pathological Institute (OFPI) in the City of Cape Town, WCP, is one of the busiest mortuaries in South Africa, receiving approximately 2900 – 3800 cases per annum (Reid et al., 2020). In fact, out of ~27000 cases received between 2010 – 2017 in the SRM, ~2500 were determined to be unidentified (Reid et al., 2020). The challenges faced in identifying these remains are not only attributed to excessive caseloads, but also due to high volumes of decomposed, burnt, and skeletonised remains entering mortuaries, often lacking formal identification. With Forensic Anthropology Cape Town (FACT) at the University of Cape Town we apply our knowledge to assist the South African Police and Forensic Pathology Services with identification of decomposed and burnt remains. My research focusses primarily on methods of identifying human remains and forensic taphonomic studies.

Taphonomy (derived from the Greek for “burial law”) was coined in 1940 by Efremov who defined it as, “…the study of the transition of animal remains from the biosphere to the lithosphere.” In essence, it is the study of the preservation of biological material over long periods of time. Accordingly, it has found a natural home in the fields of archaeology, palaeontology, and biological anthropology. The principles of taphonomy may, however, be applied to shorter timescales, typically in forensic cases (<50 years). Here, the goal is to understand the decomposition process of the remains in question to help inform reconstruction of the circumstances surrounding death and estimate the time-since-death (AKA: the post-mortem interval, or PMI). To obtain such an understanding, forensic taphonomists have been studying the decomposition of both animal and human remains since the late 1950s. This has provided insight into the varied roles for a diverse array of decomposers and the environmental variables which affect them. One of the key discoveries has been the environmental specificity of decomposition. This has triggered a global research enterprise for establishing biogeographically specific data on decomposition, especially in countries where the need is greatest.

With more than 20,000 murders per year, South Africa is one of those countries, and Cape Town is the epicentre, contributing one fifth of the national total, ~9% of whom go unidentified every year. Being able to accurately estimate the PMI may improve the chances of successfully identifying these victims of crime and tragic circumstances. Towards achieving this, between 2014 and 2016, Dr Devin Finaughty established the first baseline data on terrestrial decomposition in two of the most forensically significant habitats in Cape Town for his PhD under the supervision of Professor Emeritus Alan Morris – laying the foundations for understanding terrestrial decomposition in Cape Town’s globally unique biome. Amongst the novel discoveries were evidence of a previously unknown mechanism for precocious natural mummification in temperate climates, identification of extensive scavenging by Cape grey mongoose, and seasonal succession patterns of forensically significant insects in the Western Cape.

Under the guidance of Professor Victoria Gibbon terrestrial forensic taphonomic research in collaboration with Dr. Finaughty (University of Witwatersrand), have flourished and great strides have been made in characterising the effect of clothing and vertebrate scavengers such as the Cape grey mongoose on the decomposition process. To illustrate this, Dr. Maximilian Spies and Dr. Kara Sierra Adams conducted a study on the impact of seasonally appropriate clothing and environmental carrion biomass load on decomposition and vertebrate scavenging in forensically significant habitats within the City of Cape Town between 2017 and 2023 under the supervision of Professor Gibbon. The findings from Dr. Spies and Dr Adam’s studies revealed that clothing delayed decomposition, with a more pronounced effect noticeable in the winter. Furthermore, the results from both studies support Dr. Finaughty's initial findings on Cape grey mongoose's substantial role in accelerating the decomposition rate of animal remains.

Another significant component of of Dr Spies' and Dr Adams' studies was the utilisation of automated technology for taphonomic data collection. This world-first technology for forensic taphonomy was conceived and developed by Dr Devin Finaughty in close collaboration with Professor Gibbon, Dr Spies, our consultant electrical engineer, Mr Justin Pead - Principal Technical Officer: White Lab for the Faculty of Engineering at UCT, and Mr Charles Harris. The apparatus is based on the modular Raspberry Pi computational platform, is fully autonomous, and remotely powered and operable. Not only does this apparatus provide for automated and remote data collection, providing considerable costs and time savings to the research process, but it enables the quantification of decompositional processes that have typically been evaluated qualitatively or pseudo-quantitatively. Specifically, the apparatus permits measuring the progression of decomposition via body weight loss over time, the process of bloat (onset, development, purge), and the desiccation of body tissues in the latter stages of decomposition. The last component was made possible with the development of a custom full-thickness soft-tissue desiccation sensor (quantifying natural mummification) - another world-first in forensic taphonomic research, and only made possible through transdisciplinary collaboration.

Our forensic taphonomic research does not happen in isolation; the core research team receives extensive technical and student support to help achieve our goals. We owe a debt of (continued) thanks to the Technical Team of the Department of Human Biology under the leadership of Mr Charles Harris (Principal Technical Officer: Human Biology), including Mr Tyrone de Wet, Mr Mogammad Fakier, and Mr Uthmaan Zardad, who provide expert mechanical engineering and on-site research support for all our research endeavours. UCT's Properties & Estates team, through our main point of contact, Noelene Le Cordier, have been enthusiastic supporters of our work, something our UCT-based research would not be possible without. We also owe a debt of thanks to Dr Trevor McIntrye (University of South Africa) for the long-term loan of several camera traps which have captured much of the scavenger activity we have observed. And finally, we are grateful to Professor Gibbon's postgraduate students in Cape4Taph, and the electrical engineering students under Mr Pead's direction, who never shy away from lending a helping hand when asked, be it in the lab or in the field (regardless of the weather!)

Rig set up with clothd pig
Cape4Taph Adams 2021

Considering these stimulating research interactions and collaborations between forensic taphonomists and forensic entomologists in the Departments of Human Biology and Pathology. Professor Gibbon with the Multidisciplinary/Interdepartmental Stimulus Grant, Professor Gibbon and her team are now gearing towards investigating and generating the first inter-seasonal and inter-annual baseline data, globally, on the synergistic role of vertebrate and invertebrate scavengers, clothing and sharp force trauma on the decomposition rate and pattern of vertebrate remains within the Table Mountain region in Cape Town. This research will also examine for the first time in Africa, the effect of sub-aerial body decomposition on seasonally appropriate carrion-associated clothing. Equally important, and as part of this project, Professor Gibbon’s team is collaborating with several research scientists across academic institutions in the United Kingdom, and the Netherlands, with the aim of utilising forensic soil microbiology, post-mortem body cooling, forensic taphonomy and forensic entomology in reconstructing the circumstances surrounding death, estimation of time-since-death and ultimately deceased victim identification in region-specific forensic cases during medico-legal forensic investigations.

Dr Komang Ralebitso-Senior, Cherene de Bruyn and colleagues of the Forensic Research Institute (FORRI), Liverpool John Moores University (LJMU) are investigating the soil necrobiome of translocated clandestine graves. Using multidisciplinary approaches across forensic ecology and remote sensing the research aims to develop new tools for law enforcement to accurately estimate the Post-Mortem Interval (PMI), Post-Burial Interval (PBI), and Post-Exhumation Interval (PEI). Through collaboration with several institutions across the UK, South Africa and Australia, the research seeks to understand how multidisciplinary approaches can address global crime across different sectors and jurisdictions, while also enhancing diversity and inclusivity within the forensic research field.

Key references:

South African Police Service. (2023). Crime Statistics 2023/2024. Available at: https://www.saps.gov.za/services/crimestats.php.[Accessed 02-06-2024].
Reid, K. M., Martin, J. L. and Heathfield, L. J. (2020). Bodies without names: a retrospective review of unidentified decedents at Salt River Mortuary, Cape Town, South Africa, 2010 – 2017. South African Medical Journal. 110(3): 223 – 228.

Current Students/Staff:

Dr. Kara Adams & Dr. Maxmilian Spies. July-December 2024. Field Co-Directors. Generating baseline data on the synergistic role of vertebrate and invertebrate scavengers, clothing and sharp force trauma on the decomposition rate and pattern of vertebrate remains in the Western Cape Province. Supervisor Prof Gibbon.

Kirstin Synckers. 2024-present. MSc Biological Anthropology. Identifying and documenting the effects of forensically important scavengers in Cape Town, Western Cape -the cape grey mongoose. Supervisors Prof Gibbon and Dr Finaughty.

Graduated Students:

  • Miles K. 2024. Forensic taphonomy and stable isotopes: investigating the utility of d13C and d15N in human tissues, gravesoils, and porcine analogues in the early post-mortem interval. Ph.D. Thesis, University of New Brunswick.
  • Adams K. 2023. The effect of clothing on decomposition and scavenging in open environments in Cape Town, South Africa. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Cape Town. Supervised by Prof Gibbon and Dr. Finaughty.
  • Spies MJ. 2022. The effect of clothing and carrion biomass load on decomposition and scavenging in a forensically significant thicketed habitat in Cape Town, South Africa. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Cape Town, South Africa. Supervised by Prof Gibbon, Dr. Finaughty and A/Prof Friedling.
  • Baliso A. 2021. Identification of the deceased: A retrospective review of forensic anthropology Cape Town casework. MSc. Thesis, University of Cape Town. Supervised by Prof Gibbon and A/Prof Heathfield.
  • Finaughty DA. 2019. The establishment of baseline data on the rates and processes of soft-tissue decomposition in two terrestrial habitats of the Western Cape, South Africa. Ph.D. Thesis, University of Cape Town. Supervised by Alan Morris.
  • Du Toit C. 2019. Variation in scavenger activity on the Cape Flats, Western Cape, South Africa. Honours Thesis, University of Cape Town.
  • Baliso A. 2018. Forensic anthropology cape town: Are we helping? Honours Thesis, University of Cape Town. Supervised by Prof Gibbon and Ms Finaughty.
  • Forbes M. 2018. Do accumulated degree day methods accurately estimate post-mortem intervals in Cape Town, South Africa? Honours Thesis, University of Cape Town. Supervised by Prof Gibbon and Dr. Finaughty.
  • Spies M. 2017. Disarticulation sequences & scattering patterns in the temperate southwestern Cape, South Africa. Honours Thesis, University of Cape Town. Supervised by Prof Gibbon and Dr. Finaughty.

Media Outputs:

Selected Publications:

  • Adams KS, Finaughty DA, Pead J, Gibbon VE. 2024. Drying the mystery: A novel electronic sensor to quantify soft-tissue desiccation and natural mummification for forensic taphonomy. Scientific Reports 14: 18294  https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-024-69446-9

  • Adams K, Finaughty D, Gibbon VE. 2024. Forensic taphonomic experimental design matters: assessing clothing and carrion biomass load on scavenging in Cape Town, South Africa. International Journal of Legal Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-024-03171-w

  • Spies M, Finaughty D, Gibbon VE. 2024. Portion size matters: Carrion ecology lessons for medicolegal death investigations – A study in Cape Town, South Africa. Journal of Forensic Sciences 69(1): 28-39. https://doi.org/10.1111/1556-4029.15396
  • Finaughty DA, Pead J, Spies MJ, Gibbon VE. 2023. Next Generation forensic taphonomy: Automation for actualistic research. Forensic Science International 345: 111616 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forsciint.2023.111616
  • Baliso A, Heathfield L, Gibbon VE. 2023. Informing regional taphonomy research using retrospective forensic anthropology cases in the Western Cape, South Africa. Science and Justice 63 (2):164-172. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scijus.2022.12.003
  • Baliso A, Gibbon VE, Heathfield L. 2022. Forensic human identification: Retrospective investigation of anthropological assessments in the Western Cape, South Africa. International Journal of Legal Medicine Jul 30. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00414-022-02870-6
  • Gibbon VE, Finaughty C, Moller I, Finaughty DA. 2022. Pressing need for national governmental recognition of forensic anthropology in South Africa as illustrated in a medico-legal case. Science & Justice 411-417.  https://doi.org/10.1016/j.scijus.2022.05.003
  • Miles K, Finaughty DA, Gibbon VE. 2020. A review of experimental design in forensic taphonomy: moving towards forensic realism. Forensic Sciences Research 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1080/20961790.2020.1792631
  • Finaughty DA, Spies MJ, Pead J, Gibbon VE. 2020. Automation: A golden ticket for taphonomic research? Forensic Science International 312: 11027. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forsciint.2020.110276
  • Spies MJ, Finaughty DA, Friedling LJ, Gibbon VE. 2020. The effect of clothing on decomposition and vertebrate scavengers in cooler months of the temperate southwestern Cape, South Africa. Forensic Science International 309:110197. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forsciint.2020.110197
  • Baliso A, Finaughty C, Gibbon VE. 2019. Identification of the deceased: use of forensic anthropology at Cape Town's busiest medico-legal laboratory. Forensic Science International: Reports 1:100042 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fsir.2019.100042
  • Finaughty C, Gibbon VE, Speed B, Heathfield L. 2019. A pilot study investigating DNA recovery from teeth in a South African natural marine environment. Forensic Science International: Genetics Supplement Series 7(1): 580-581. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fsigss.2019.10.097
  • Forbes MNS, Finaughty DA, Miles KL, Gibbon VE. 2019. Inaccuracy of accumulated degree day models for estimating terrestrial post-mortem intervals in Cape Town, South Africa. Forensic Science International 296: 67-73. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forsciint.2019.01.008
  • Spies M, Gibbon VE, Finaughty D. 2018. Forensic taphonomy: Vertebrate scavenging in the temperate southwestern Cape, South Africa. Forensic Science International 290: 62-69. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forsciint.2018.06.022
  • Spies M, Finaughty D, Gibbon VE. 2018. Forensic taphonomy: Scavenger-induced scattering patterns in the temperate southwestern Cape, South Africa. Forensic Science International 290: 29-35. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forsciint.2018.06.015