Total Body Score (TBS)
Definition
The Megyesi 2005 composite decomposition scoring system: head/neck (1-12) + trunk (1-12) + limbs (1-10), summed to give a score of 3 to 34 reflecting the overall decomposition state of surface-deposited remains.
- Author
- Megyesi, 2005
- Head/neck range
- 1 to 12
- Trunk range
- 1 to 12
- Limbs range
- 1 to 10
- Total range
- 3 to 34
Common questions
How does the Total Body Score relate to postmortem interval estimation?+
The TBS is designed to correlate with accumulated degree days, a temperature-weighted measure of time since death, so a scored TBS can be converted through published regression equations into an estimated postmortem interval range, rather than being a PMI figure by itself.
Why does the system score three body regions separately instead of one overall rating?+
Different regions decompose at different visible rates due to microbial load, insulation, and exposure, so scoring head/neck, trunk, and limbs separately and summing them captures uneven decomposition more accurately than a single whole-body impression would.
Does the TBS work the same way for remains in water or buried remains?+
The original Megyesi scale was developed and validated on surface-deposited remains, and decomposition proceeds differently underwater or when buried, so examiners apply environment-specific caution or modified scales rather than assuming the surface TBS regression transfers directly.
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...
- Autolysis
- Self-digestion of cells after death caused by the release of lysosomal enzymes. No microbial involvement is required. Autolysis begins within minutes of...
- Behrensmeyer Weathering Stages
- A six-stage (0-5) macroscopic scale for characterising the degree of environmental weathering on bone, published by Anna Kay Behrensmeyer in Paleobiology (1978)....
- Cadaver Decomposition Island (CDI)
- The localised area of soil and vegetation altered by the decomposition fluids and gases released from a body. A CDI has a...
- Maggot Mass Temperature
- The elevated temperature (10 to 15°C above ambient) generated by metabolic heat from dense aggregations of blowfly larvae on a decomposing body....
- Microclimate Offset
- A temperature correction applied to weather station data to account for the thermal environment at the actual deposition site: shade, building enclosure,...
- Mummification
- Preservation of the body by desiccation rather than liquefaction, occurring when surface evaporation rate exceeds the rate of putrefaction gas production. Common...
- Putrefaction
- Decomposition of tissues by microorganisms, principally anaerobic bacteria from the gastrointestinal tract. Products include hydrogen sulphide, methane, ammonia, and putrescine, which cause...
- Uni-Directional PMI Narrowing
- The principle that the TBS formula better constrains the minimum PMI (at least X days must have passed) than the maximum PMI....