Nearly 50 years ago, the Body Farm began with one body, a small plot of land, and a novel idea.
Today, the University of Tennessee Anthropological Research Facility consists of a 2.5-acre wooded plot and instead of just one body, approximately forty bodies are studied at the same time in different scenarios.
Founded by anthropologist William M. Bass, the Anthropological Research Facility is the world’s largest Body Farm, aimed to better understanding the process of decomposition, mainly to assist in criminal investigations.
Forensic anthropologist, William Bass, checks on the progress of a decaying body. (Credit: Getty Images)
Forensic anthropologist, William Bass, investigating remains in a car at the University of Tennessee’s Forensic Anthropology Center known as the Body Farm. (Credit: Getty Images)
A decaying body at the University of Tennessee’s Anthropological Research Facility. (Credit: Getty Images)
A decaying body at the University of Tennessee’s Anthropological Research Facility. (Credit: Getty Images)
A decaying body at the University of Tennessee’s Anthropological Research Facility. (Credit: Getty Images)
Bodies decay in a water trough, at the University of Tennessee’s Anthropological Research Facility known as the The Body Farm. (Credit: Getty Images)
A decaying body at the University of Tennessee’s Anthropological Research Facility. (Credit: Getty Images)
Dr. Richard Jantz, Director of the University of Tennessee Anthropological Research Facility known as the The Body Farm, stands near a decaying body. (Credit: Getty Images)
Skeletons from the University of Tennessee’s Anthropology Research Facility, commonly called “The Body Farm,” are stored in specially designed boxes and then placed on floor-to-ceiling, electronically controlled shelves in the Bass Donated Skeletal Collection at UT’s Strong Hall.
Lee Meadows Jantz, associate director of UT’s Forensic Anthropology Center, pulls out a specially designed box containing a skeleton stored at the Bass Donated Skeletal Collection on Oct. 23, 2018.
Researchers and scientists come to UT’s Bass Donated Skeletal Collection to study what the bones tell them.
Lee Meadows Jantz, associate director of UT’s Forensic Anthropology Center, holds a box containing the skeleton of an infant stored at the university’s Bass Donated Skeletal Collection.
Cremated remains are stored at UT’s Bass Donated Skeletal Collection. Researchers and scientists come to the collection to study what the bones tell them.
