# Bones buried in soil



## Robdemanc (Oct 24, 2013)

If all the police had to go on was a pile of bones buried in soil would this impede their identification of the body?  I have swept through google and it seems getting DNA from bones is possible but difficult.  I wonder if anyone knows how long this might take?  And also if the bones were only buried 5 years ago would they be able to date them effectively using carbon dating principles?

In my story they have not found a skull with the bones.


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## Outiboros (Oct 24, 2013)

Carbon dating usually deals with hundreds and thousands of years. I doubt five years would be long enough to have a measurable impact on carbon isotopes. They'd be able to say that they weren't ancient, but apart from that, you can't tell the exact date from carbon dating.


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## Andyfuji (Oct 24, 2013)

Assuming the skull found contains teeth, DNA extraction would be comparatively easy.  Tooth enamel is able to preserve usable quality DNA for quite some time.  A well-equipped forensic lab would be able to extract, replicate, and analyze DNA samples in somewhere around a month time.

As for radiocarbon dating, tests aren't quite accurate enough to age such an early sample.  At best, it can be used to determine which decade the bones belong to.  Samples with an origin of around the 1960's (radiocarbon levels were abnormally high due to nuclear testing) tend to be the most accurate, with quality diminishing in quality in either direction.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3125955/
http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/lab/forensic-science-communications/fsc/oct2002/ubelaker.htm


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## Robdemanc (Oct 24, 2013)

In my story the bones were buried 4 years ago after being cleaned.  There is no skull.  I am wondering if this is too difficult a task for my forensic team (who work in the background of the story).  I have my main detectives sitting around for a week before they hear back from the lab with estimates as to when the bones were buried and that they are male of age 25 - 35.

From what I've researched it seems the bones in my scenario would never be identified or dated.


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## ppsage (Oct 24, 2013)

If your characters have a very good forensic team and if they happen to live in an area where soil conditions and effects have been studied for archaeological purposes, it's likely a good estimate of the burial time can be made. The cleaning could easily throw this off, but the difference between four years and say one or ten would usually be readily discernible to experts who know the conditions. No trained forensic will think they're ancient. Given a complete skeleton, even without the skull, determining the age of the person to within ten years or less will be easy, as will the gender. Recovering partial DNA from the marrow area of the bones is within the window of possible. Soil condition and the method of removing the flesh can much effect this. Carbon dating would not be used. Healed breaks and medical appliances could easily lead to identification, if they're found.


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## PSFoster (Jan 14, 2014)

There is a place in Knoxville,TN, called the Body Farm. They study the effects of all kinds of conditions on dead bodies.
Google it and see if you can find a place to ask questions.


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