The Forensic Anthropology Research Facility (FARF) is maintained under the jurisdiction of the Forensic Anthropology Center at Texas State University (FACTS) This unusual outdoor research laboratory focuses on “reconstructing the postmortem interval to determine time since death and related studies on human decomposition.” It is perhaps more graphically described as a “body farm.”
Opened in 2008. FARF looks at the way in which bodies decompose in open-air environments, an area of particular use in the field of criminal forensics. It is one of five such institutions across the United States (the first opened in 1981 at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville) and is by far the largest, taking up 26 acres (10 hectares) of the University’s Freeman Ranch (the rest of the site is a working ranch). A range of environments are simulated across the site, including forested areas, scrubland, and ponds.
The facility is governed by strict protocols concerning health, safety, and security. I is surrounded by razor-wire perimeter fencing, and visits from the public are rarely permitted. There is no residential property within 1 mile (11.6 km) of the site, although it is said that any odors dissipate within 50 feet (115 m). Freeman Ranch was not the original intended site, but a previous location close to San Marcos Municipal Airport was vetoed over concerns that large numbers of vultures might be attracted by the corpses, pulling air safety at risk.
Research is carried out on around six corpses at any one time by specially selected academics, Some of the bodies are buried in shallow graves, others left open the elements, and some are even stored in car trunks in a bid to closely replicate genuine homicide scenarios
If you are so minded, you may make arrangements to donate your body to the center. It is even possible to donate a loved one’s cadaver if you think it is what they would have wanted.
