PFIDAC
Definition
Post-mortem Forensic Index of Decomposition and Alteration in Context: a UK-developed scoring protocol that standardises the description of decomposition stages in buried contexts, enabling statistical comparison across cases and providing a basis for burial interval models.
- Full name
- Post-mortem Forensic Index of Decomposition and Alteration in Context
- Origin
- Developed in the UK
- Purpose
- Standardised scoring of decomposition in buried remains
- Application
- Basis for burial interval estimation models
Common questions
How does PFIDAC differ from decomposition scales used for surface remains?+
Surface decomposition scales assume exposure to air, insects and scavengers, while PFIDAC accounts for the altered decomposition trajectory in buried, oxygen-limited soil contexts, scoring features specific to burial such as adipocere formation and soil staining.
What limits PFIDAC's accuracy across different burial environments?+
Soil type, moisture, depth and climate all affect decomposition rate independently of time, so the scoring protocol standardises description of stages but still needs local calibration data before it can support a precise interval estimate.
Related terms
- Accumulated Degree Days (ADD)
- The sum of daily mean temperatures above a threshold (usually 0 °C) over a period of interest. Used as a measure of...
- Burial Interval
- The elapsed time between placement of the body in the ground and the time of recovery. Distinct from the post-mortem interval (time...
- Minimum Date Evidence
- Artefacts (coins, currency notes, dated packaging, mobile phones) recovered from a burial whose manufacture date establishes that burial cannot have occurred before...
- Pollen Stratigraphy
- The analysis of pollen assemblages at different depth horizons within the grave fill to establish a seasonal or annual chronology. A pollen...
- Soil Temperature Logging
- Placement of calibrated temperature dataloggers at the grave depth during excavation, allowing the actual thermal history of the burial environment to be...