Longitudinal Digital Photography Dataset of Decomposing Pig Carcasses in a Humid Temperate Environment

This dataset contains longitudinal digital photographs documenting the decomposition of six pig carcasses (Sus scrofa domesticus) deposited at a forensic taphonomy research facility in the United Kingdom. Images were collected repeatedly throughout decomposition, spanning postmortem intervals (PMI) from 0 to 105 days. Pig carcasses were used as human analogues to investigate decomposition processes under natural outdoor conditions. Full-body photographs were acquired at regular intervals throughout decomposition, providing a visual record of morphological change over time. The dataset comprises 132 images representing six individual carcasses photographed across 22 sampling occasions. Images are organised by individual carcass and accompanied by a metadata file containing specimen identifiers, postmortem interval information, capture dates, and file locations. This resource has been developed to support forensic taphonomy research, postmortem interval estimation studies, decomposition modelling, image-based analyses, computer vision applications, and educational activities. Dataset Contents 132 full-body digital photographs 6 individual pig carcasses 22 postmortem interval sampling points Metadata file (CSV) Dataset documentation (README) Data Collection Photographs were collected under natural outdoor conditions at a forensic taphonomy research facility located in the United Kingdom. Images were captured at multiple predefined postmortem intervals beginning on the day of deposition (PMI 0) and continuing until PMI 105. Each image represents a full-body view of an individual pig carcass at the recorded sampling interval. Photographs were acquired using a consistent imaging protocol to facilitate temporal comparison of decomposition-related changes. Ethical Statement Pig carcasses (Sus scrofa domesticus) were used as proxies for human decomposition. Institutional ethical approval was granted for this project. No human remains are included in this dataset.