Early Death Investigation

The most primitive societies likely had a well-developed sense of the causative

relationship of trauma, old age, and illness to death, and early “investigations”occurred even in tribal societies to determine why a member of the family

group had died, though they were more likely to invoke superstition or

magical thinking instead of the “rational” methods employed by modern

societies.2–4 Early Mesopotamian civilizations, and those of ancient Egypt,

Greece, and India, had well-developed legal codes (the earliest being the Code

of Hammurabi, 2200 B.C.), and these laws often referenced medical issues,

such as duties of physicians, allowable fees, the viability of the fetus, and discussions

of injuries. These cultures also had well-developed medical systems,

but there is little or no reference in their extant writings to suggest that medical

practitioners were regularly involved in the investigation of death. Rather,

common sense and experience were applied by various officials, magistrates,

or priests in an attempt to explain why and how individuals died. Some of the

earliest death investigations probably involved deaths due to suicide, which

most societies have considered to be an unacceptable act for religious or

superstitious reasons.5 Taking one’s own life might result in denial of funeral

rites, reprisals against the decedent’s family, or other penalties, so a rudimentary

death investigation was necessary in such cases to determine if a death

was self-inflicted.

The earliest written documentation specifically related to formal death

investigation has been discovered in archaeological excavations in China.6

Here, bamboo strips unearthed and dated from the period of the Ch’in

Dynasty (221–207 B.C.) have been found inscribed with writings giving

instructions to civil servants charged with the examination of corpses who

died under suspicious circumstances.

Death investigation in ancient Athens was largely a private matter instead

of a concern of the state.7 As such, investigations by a governing body were

not consistent, and Greek physicians were apparently not involved in certification

or investigation of death, though there are reported instances of their

testimony in legal proceedings involving injury.