Check out the ‘Body Farm’ at Freeman Ranch in San Marcos
The study of forensic anthropology could be mistaken for a scene out of a horror movie if you happen to visit Freeman Ranch in San Marcos.
Believe it or not, there are nearly 200 people already on the waiting list to donate their bodies to an ongoing research program in partnership with Texas State University.
50 corpses currently take up the grounds of Freeman Ranch as researchers study human decomposition and the effects that the elements and climate of Texas have on the process.
The Texas Tribune has some incredible (and creepy) slides of the process that is done on 26 acres of land, but also some incredibly interesting facts that are learned from the observations made on the 'body farm'. Notes are made not only about the decomposition process but also the effect on surrounding plant life and vegetation. The documentary from National Geographic above shoes the grounds and more behind the science.
There are six different body farms in the U.S.A. The first opened in Tennessee in 1980. Farms are also in operation in Illinois, North Carolina, and Colorado.