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Thesis
A Biocultural Assessment of Postmortem Processes in Northwest Florida Death Scenes (2012-2022)
University of West Florida Libraries
Master of Arts (MA), University of West Florida
2025
Abstract
A primary objective of forensic anthropologists is to reconstruct the death event to inform interpretations of postmortem (after-death) processes and the conditions surrounding a decedent’s final deposition. These postmortem taphonomic changes are greatly impacted by environmental and climatic factors; so, developing regional models of the rate of decomposition and skeletal preservation is essential to accurate reporting and improving future search and recovery efforts. However, even these meticulous analyses of decompositional and environmental factors often overlook the role that sociocultural and structural forces may play in the formation of death scenes.Within societies where resources are inequitably distributed, socially marginalized individuals face disparate risk of systemic inequalities, hardships, and structural and interpersonal violence. Embodiment theory contextualizes how these structural inequities can physically manifest in individual bodies during life, potentially impacting them to a degree that is even visible in death. Furthermore, the concepts of structural violence and structural vulnerability inform understandings of how social structures create embodied inequality and play a role in the circumstances surrounding an individual’s life and death.
This thesis posits that the characteristics of an individual’s final deposition (i.e., the location and composition) may also be shaped by experiences of social marginalization. Using data from forensic decedents whose cases were investigated by the Florida’s District 1 Medical Examiner’s Office (N = 160), I examine how lived experiences of marginalization correlate with characteristics of decedents’ death scenes, recoveries, and case investigations. This research presents regional taphonomic and socio-cultural factors that impact the postmortem history of decedents in Northwest Florida; here, I highlight the utility of biocultural perspectives in understanding these effects and the importance of identifying and reporting on these patterns to address public health concerns. Understanding these outcomes facilitates a more holistic understanding of the decedent’s life and death and, subsequently, more accurate medicolegal reporting.
Details
- Title
- A Biocultural Assessment of Postmortem Processes in Northwest Florida Death Scenes (2012-2022)
- Resource Type
- Thesis
- Contributors
- Allysha P. Winburn (Committee Chair)Meredith Marten (Committee Member)Katherine A. Miller Wolf (Committee Member)Deanna A. Oleske (Committee Member)
- Publisher
- University of West Florida Libraries; Argo Scholar Commons
- Format
- pdf
- Number of pages
- 249
- Copyright
- © Michaela M. Andrusko
- Identifiers
- 99381559333306600
- Academic Unit
- Anthropology
- Language
- English
- Awarding Institution
- University of West Florida; Master of Arts (MA)
- Theses and Dissertations
- Master of Arts (MA), University of West Florida