In due course, most flesh on a body will disappear, having decomposed completely and become one with the soil. All that is left will be the hardest material, the bones. 1. The degree of skeletalisation will indicate if a body has been in situ for years. In open country, a body might be reduced to a skeleton in months by wild animals and insects. In less accessible locations, a skeleton might still have flesh adhering after several years. 2. Skeletal remains can be analysed to determine the diffusion of materials from the soil into the bones and any surviving tissue. 3. External factors such as the date of construction of buildings over the site, or growth rings in tree roots that have grown through the remains, can give clues about the
