The term ‘Body Farm’ is frequently used by members of the public and
some of the forensic science community to refer to Human Taphonomy Facilities
(HTFs), however many people are unaware of the term’s origins.
It started with the opening of the worlds first HTF in 1981 by Dr.
Bill Bass at the University of Tennessee’s new Forensic Anthropology Center.
For over a decade the facility was simply referred to as the Anthropological
Research Facility (ARF). However, in 1994, a book was published by Patricia Cornwell
entitled ‘The Body Farm’, the fifth book in the Dr. Kay Scarpetta series. The
story revolves around an FBI agent investigating the murder of an 11-year-old
girl who turns to a “clandestine research facility in Tennessee known as The
Body Farm” to find answers. The story isn’t based on any particular real life
case, but the inspiration for facility in the story clearly comes from the ARF.
Although the book itself isn’t particularly well known in the
general public the name ‘Body Farm’ has stuck ever since and effectively become
the unofficial for name for HTFs across the world. There was also a TV series
with the name ‘The Body Farm’, about an HTF, broadcast in the UK in 2011.
The term ‘Body Farm’ is understandably controversial, as it conjures
images of body parts being ‘grown’ or cultivated, or zombies bursting out of
burials. For many, it sounds gruesome or disrespectful to those individuals who
have selflessly donated their bodies to the advancement of forensic science.
Unfortunately, the term is catchy, grabs attention, and seems to
have stuck. The Anthropology Research
Facility at the University of Tennessee has embraced it, proudly calling its
facility The Body Farm. The advantages of this term is that people tend to have
heard of it, and have some idea of what a ‘Body Farm’ is, whereas far fewer
people are familiar with the more scientific and respectful term ‘Human
Taphonomy Facility’. Until we can spread the word, and make ‘taphonomy’ a
well-known term, it looks like the name ‘Body Farm’ will be used for the
foreseeable future.
