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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.

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...

Explained in

  • Burial Interval EstimationPost-mortem Forensic Index of Decomposition and Alteration in Context: a UK-developed scoring protocol that standardises the description of decomposition stage...

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