11 Facts About The Decomposition Rates Of A Body Buried In A Casket
While it may be morbid, it's normal to wonder what happens to our bodies post-mortem. While what happens to the human consciousness remains a mystery, we can learn the established facts of the physical process. The stages of decay occur right away, and what transpires when a body decomposes in a casket can be a long, complex process.Â
Decomposition begins as soon as someone passes and continues until the body becomes fossilized. Depending on the pre-burial preparations, decomposition in a casket can slow things down, essentially elongating the natural course for decades. Learning the facts of the matter may leave you feeling humbled, as it's a reminder that, however important we are in life, we all end up dust and bones in the end.Â
Self-Digestion Immediately Occurs
Decomposition begins immediately post-mortem, in a stage known as autolysis, or self-digestion. During this process, as the name implies, the body begins digesting itself. As cells are deprived of oxygen, they begin to breakdown and release membranes that are then digested by enzymes.
Typically, this begins in the liver and brain due to the high water and enzyme content in these areas.
Rigor Mortis Sets In After Two To Six Hours
As the process of self-digestion occurs, the body's internal temperature drops - paralleling the cessation of flowing blood. As a result, the blood begins to thicken. The coagulation causes the arteries, veins, and capillaries to essentially harden. This leads to the well-known phenomenon of rigor mortis, in which corpses become stiff and immobile.
This process of stiffening usually occurs two to six hours post-mortem.
Color-Changing Happens In About 24 Hours
Rigor mortis lasts about 24 hours. After it passes, blood settles in the area of the body that was closest to the ground at the time of death. The area where blood settles develops a red-brown color, also called the "post-mortem stain." For example, if someone passed after falling down headfirst, then there would be a blotchy stain in the facial region.
Other body parts begin to take on a bluish tinge within 8 to 10 hours post-mortem.
After Three Days There's An Odor
A bad odor begins two to three days post-mortem, in a process known as putrefaction. It's caused by micro-organisms in the intestines. These organisms do not expire at the same time as the body. Instead, they begin eating through the intestines. After a few days, micro-organisms spread across the thighs and stomach. The process of putrefaction eventually causes a foul odor, similar to the scent of rotten eggs and methane.
Other side effects include a protruding tongue, a greenish patch on the belly, and fluid oozing from the mouth and nostrils.
Fingernails And Hair Don’t Grow, But They Do Start To Look Bigger
Contrary to popular belief, fingernails and hair do not continue to grow post-mortem. They only appear to do so, as when the skin dries out, hair and fingernails can look more prominent by comparison. Hair, while it may appear longer, actually starts falling out fairly quickly.
Similarly, as the skin recedes, both fingernails and toenails only appear to look longer.
Embalming Stalls, But Does Not Prevent, Decay
Typically, by the time putrefaction occurs, someone will have stepped in to take the body to a funeral home. If the body is embalmed, this can slow the decomposition process, but it does not prevent decay. A funeral director will first bathe the body. If rigor mortis is apparent, the professionals will employ massages to loosen the muscles.
Chemicals used in the embalming process help slow putrefaction by stopping the cellular activity that leads to decomposition. Funeral directors use machinery to drain the blood from the arteries and replace the vessels with embalming fluids. Funeral directors will also drain the body's gas and may use cotton to prevent leakage.