The Forensic Anthropology Center at Texas State (FACTS) is a 26-acre

forensic anthropology Forensic anthropology is the application of the anatomical science of anthropology and its various subfields, including forensic archaeology and forensic taphonomy, in a legal setting. A forensic anthropologist can assist in the identification ...

research facility located on the Freeman Ranch in San Marcos,

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. It is one of the seven extant

body farm A body farm is a research facility where decomposition of humans and animals can be studied in a variety of settings. The initial facility was conceived by anthropologist William M. Bass in 1981 at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, Tenn ...

s in the United States and the largest such forensics research facility in the world.

Background

A Forensic Anthropology Research Facility was commissioned by the

Texas State University Texas State University (TXST) is a public university, public research university with its main campus in San Marcos, Texas, United States, and another campus in Round Rock, Texas, Round Rock. Since its establishment in 1899, the university has ...

Department of Anthropology and is under the direction of Dr. Michelle Hamilton, a former student of Dr. Bill Bass, founder of the first body farm. The forensic research facility is fully operational and is part of the Forensic Anthropology Center at Texas State (FACTS). The forensic facility has received a financial donation of over $100,000 from a Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Texas State University, and has started construction of an adjoining million dollar lab to augment the facility. The development of this facility has been possible through the efforts of Dr. Jerry Melbye, D-ABFA. Prior to the selection of the location, objections by local residents and the nearby San Marcos Municipal Airport (owing to concerns about circling vultures) stalled the plan. But on February 12, 2008, Texas State University announced that its Freeman Ranch, off County Road 213 northwest of San Marcos, would be the site of the facility. The vultures that originally created problems for the location of the research facility have provided a new area of study on the effect of vulture scavenging on human decomposition. The Forensic Anthropology Research Facility (FARF) is a human decomposition research laboratory where questions related to outdoor crime scenes and decomposition rates for human remains under various topographical and climate conditions are investigated. The FARF serves as a resource for students of forensic anthropology as well as state and national law enforcement agencies. The work conducted here will have a direct impact on law enforcement and forensic investigations throughout the state of Texas, and beyond. The Forensic Anthropology Center at Texas State accepts body donations for scientific research purposes under the

Uniform Anatomical Gift Act The Uniform Anatomical Gift Act (UAGA), and its periodic revisions, is one of the Uniform Acts drafted by the National Conference of Commissioners on Uniform State Laws (NCCUSL), also known as the Uniform Law Commission (ULC), in the United States ...

. The areas of research conducted with donated bodies will include reconstructing the postmortem interval to determine time since death and related studies in human decomposition. The overall aim of this type of research is to assist law enforcement agents and the medico-legal community in their investigations. While practical restraints currently limit the Forensic Anthropology Research Facility to only around seven acres in the

Texas Hill Country The Texas Hill Country is a geographic region of Central and South Texas, forming the southeast part of the Edwards Plateau. Given its location, climate, terrain, and vegetation, the Hill Country can be considered the border between the Ame ...

, Freeman Ranch has about available.

References

External links

Official siteDepartment of Anthropology
at ''Texas State University'' {{coord, 29.888650, -97.939086, type:edu, display=title Body farms Texas State University Buildings and structures in San Marcos, Texas

Background

See also

References

External links