The postmortem interval and skeletal remains

This chapter focuses on methods of determining the PMI from skeletal remains which have not been covered in other chapters of this book. Attempts at determining the PMI or TSD from skeletonised remains is both varied and innovative. When assessing skeletal remains with an unknown PMI, one of the first concerns is to determine whether the remains are of 'forensic relevance' [1]. The time range for skeletal remains to be of forensic relevance is different in different countries and may even differ between jurisdictions within the same country. Swift [2] stats that approximately 75 years PMI was the cut-off date in the United Kingdom. This seems to be the general criterion used in published literature, though often criteria are shortened to post 1950 being classified as being 'forensically relevant' (e.g. Refs. [3,4]).