![]() In rigor mortis, the body becomes stiff and completely unpliable, as all the muscles tense due to changes that occur in them at a cellular level. This process may begin after about an hour following death and can continue to develop until the 9–12 hour mark postmortem. Goff explains, “he blood begins to settle, by gravity, to the lowest portions of the body,” causing the skin to become discolored. This is due to the loss of blood circulation as the heart stops beating. Livor mortis, or lividity, refers to the point at which a deceased person’s body becomes very pale, or ashen, soon after death. Perhaps the three best-known ones, which are often cited in crime dramas, are livor mortis, rigor mortis, and algor mortis. ![]() There are several signs that a body has begun its process of decomposition, Goff explains. Lee Goff, it is “a continuous process, beginning at the point of death and ending when the body has been reduced to a skeleton.” In fact, the decomposition of a human body is a longer process with many stages, of which putrefaction is only one part.ĭecomposition is a phenomenon through which the complex organic components of a previously living organism gradually separate into ever simpler elements. In this Spotlight, we describe the process of decomposition and explain why it can be useful to understand what happens to the body after death.Īlthough many of us may think of decomposition as synonymous with putrefaction, it is not. Under natural conditions - for example, if the body is left out in a natural environment, or placed in a shallow grave - a lifeless body begins to slowly disintegrate, until only the bones are left for future archeologists to dig up. What happens to bodies naturally, after they have had their grand encounter with death? What if they don’t get cremated or choose to become embalmed, so as to delay the process of decomposition and keep them “fit” for viewing for longer? What is there to know about it?įor the majority of us, contact with the bodies of people who have passed away begins and ends with the sad occasion of a funeral.Īnd even then, what we usually get is either an urn with the person’s cremated remains, or a body laid out neatly in a casket, having been carefully prepared for the occasion by a funeral home. Share on Pinterest Decomposition is what naturally occurs to bodies after death.
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