There are five stages of decomposition: fresh stage (autolysis), early stage, advanced stage, mummification, and skeletonisation. The first stage starts moments after death; four minutes to be exact and ends about three days after death. In an article published by The Journal of Forensic Sciences11, the author, Dr. Arpad Vass, states that “as cells of the body are deprived of oxygen, carbon dioxide in the blood increases, pH decreases, and wastes accumulate, which poisons the cells.” This process is caused by autolysis12, the “process of self-digestion.” Autolysis cannot be seen from the outside of the body until a couple days have passed. The visible signs of autolysis occurring are fluid filled blisters on the skin along with skin slippage13.
The second stage is early decomposition, or putrefaction. Early decomposition lasts about two or three days. Putrefaction is the process by which “bacteria that escapes from the intestinal tract…are released into the body and begins…melting the body17.” The bacteria inside the dead body release gases that cause the body to bloat18. These gases are composed of methane, hydrogen sulphide, and ammonia19. These gases force out a green ooze, which attracts more flies to the corpse. There is also a possibility that the gaseous build up can cause the body to burst. In the circumstance that the body does rupture, a swarm of flies is likely to be attracted to the body. This is because the fluid that was built up from the first stage and start of the second stage has an obtrusive smell. This smell goes back to the chemicals involved in the process of decomposition; cadaverine and putrescine. This is how putrescine acquired its name, from the second stage in the decomposition process,
According to Mo Costandi in the article, Life after death: the Science of Human Decomposition23, the ancient Egyptians tried to come up with the best ways to preserve their death using different methods. First they would wrap their dead in linen and bury them directly in the sand. This worked to preserve the bodies extremely well. But when they moved onto burying their dead in tombs, they developed the theory of embalming. The process of embalming has changed over the centuries and inhibits decomposition from occurring as quickly as it would without the chemicals present in the embalming mixture. The mixture is composed of formaldehyde, methanol, as well as other solvents. These chemicals are what temporarily preserve the tissues of the body and decrease insect activity. The fifth and final stage of decomposition is skeletonisation. The time it takes a body to decompose to a body can take up to 2 months to complete, if that body is left above ground and unhampered by scavengers. The process of skeletonisation only occurs if the body is placed in a cool environment. In the same study described above at Texas State University25, Daniel Wescott explained that if a body was placed in the shade, on their facility, the body would continue to decompose until there was nothing but bones left. Setting the bodies in the shade allowed the bacteria and insects to live and continue feeding on the
illogical to some, the reasons for embalming the dead made perfect sense to the Egyptians. Mummification kept corpses in a desiccate, pristine condition; the body must be suitable for the owner’s spirit to return for a rendezvous, as per Egyptian belief (Evans, 20)....
The beginning of the story mentions an “...odor of death...” (Allende 232). This smell, along with “...the stench of corpses.” (Allende 234), is something that the reader can bring into the story and imagine theirself. For most readers, this smell is unimaginable and brings the
Many times after a few weeks of thorough examination trials, the twins would be killed by a chemical, Phenol, injected into their bloodstream; they would insert the needles at the same time so they would have the same time of death. After being killed by the injection their organs were dissected for further research. Although this mostly happened after death there were times where the organs were extracted before the patient was killed, this also happened with many other pieces of the human body.
The medico-legal autopsy report should be as detailed as possible so as not to miss even the slightest of findings, which may later play a big role in determining the case, hence standardized autopsy procedures as well as autopsy protocols have been devised.
When the aerobic organisms in the body consume all the oxygen present, anaerobic organisms from the digestive system begin to multiply. They consume macromolecules (proteins, carbohydrates, lipids) and form acids and gases in the p...
Mummification relates to Egypt, because before the Old Kingdom, the Egyptians used mummification, but instead of using chemicals such as Natron, they preserved their dead by desiccation. Before the Egyptians would then bury their dead in the arid desert with the deceased’s belongings. However, the wealthier Egyptians began to bury their dead in tombs, and used artificial mummification, which is removing the internal organs and wrapping the body in linen and burying them in coffins. But by the New Kingdom, the Egyptians perfected their mummification process, and had elaborate funerals for the deceased. Egyptian mummification is not used by the Egyptians frequently today, but the discoveries and texts were important in discovering how the Egyptians progress in science and technology.
Without advanced medicine, Americans were familiar with death, as the common cold could easily turn fatal. After the death of a loved one, the family members would give the body a bath and store it in the coldest room of the house to prevent immediate decomposing. The body would only stay in the house until people had time to visit and say their goodbyes. The smell was unpleasant, so flowers would be brought in. This initiated the tradition of having flowers at a funeral. After that, the body would be buried next to other deceased family members in a simple, wooden coffin. For those that could afford it, an undertaker was hired to take away the body and hold a formal funeral. The undertaker would store bodies on blocks of
Throughout the past hundred years, all over the world the number of cremations done exceeded burials and left a shocking number behind. As it was in 1968 with 35 % of funerals being cremations, today in the UK, Japan, Canada, USA and many other countries it is growing and reached over 79 %. (Mayers, 2013). This is becoming so popular that even small companies for constructing crematoriums are becoming larger and turn into very well-paid businesses. As a matter of fact, with present day people choose their best options for funerals and do not take into account the so called old beliefs that religion forbids cremations. Peo...
(not compiled yet, paper is due Friday. I want to get the body taken care of, please)
The second possibility about the burial is just as creepy. Some families cannot afford the cost of the funeral, so they put the deceased into a temporary coffin. Once the money is raised, the corpse has to be raised and walk to their new resting place. Sometimes it may take years for the family to raise the money. Hence the Walking Dead of Indonesia.
parts and put them together and used a special technique to bring the corpse to
...ial ceremony. The mortician grooms the deceased’ and tries to make the dead look as living as possible. (http://listverse.com/2007/11/08/the-5-stages-of-embalming/)
However, most people do not want to know details beyond cost or think about the actual embalming process. Funeral embalming preserves a corpse from decomposition so it can be displayed with dignity in funer...
The word “Autopsy” means ‘to see with one’s own eyes,’ (2) and is a procedure that has been performed since the time of (LOOK UP IN NOTES). Not every death that occurs is subjected to an autopsy – this would be time consuming and expensive. Yet the situations that require such a procedure are different for every state. In fact, there is no federal standard when it comes to autopsy requirements or procedures – a surprising fact, considering the sheer number of years the human race has been practicing the procedure.
The medico-legal autopsy report should be as detailed as possible so as not to miss even the slightest of findings, which may later play a big role in determining the case, hence standardized autopsy procedures as well as autopsy protocols have been devised.