What Really Happens To Your Body After 50 Years In A Coffin - Grunge (2024)

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What Really Happens To Your Body After 50 Years In A Coffin - Grunge? ›

In short, it turns into the dust and dirt from which it came. And there's a timeline for how it all goes down. Once a body's been laying in a coffin for 50 years, there's really not much of it left. The process of human decomposition.

As the skin loosens, it also separates from the toe and fingernails of the body. As the body continues to decompose, the body starts to give out a reddish-black hue, leaving it looking unrecognizable from the living being that it once was.

“Lead coffins preserve a body for up to a year, they can be sealed airtight and slow the decomposition of the body. Lead lining a coffin seals the coffin, it keeps out moisture and preserves the body for longer, it also makes sure that the smell and any toxins from a dead body can't escape and harm the environment.”

However, on average, a body buried within a typical coffin usually starts to break down within a year, but takes up to a decade to fully decompose, leaving only the skeleton, Daniel Wescott, director of the Forensic Anthropology Center at Texas State University, told Live Science.

Putrefaction (4-10 days after death) – Autolysis occurs and gases (odor) and discoloration starts.

Stage 4: Skeletonisation. Occurs: There's no set point in the decomposition process where skeletonisation occurs. Usually, though, this happens after the 50-year mark (so yes, the human decomposition process is a pretty lengthy one).

Today, some cemeteries rent out plots, which allows people to lease a space for up to 100 years before the grave is allowed to be recycled and reused. Many countries around the world have resorted to this process as their available land begins to fill.

Generally, an embalmed body placed in a casket can last for many years. How quickly the body will decompose after embalming also depends on the strength of the embalming chemicals used. But even then, decomposition start after a week or so.

Water can infiltrate a burial site in several ways, and each type of casket, whether it's sealed, unsealed or inside a vault, can develop issues. For example: Wooden caskets can decompose and spring leaks. Air pockets trapped inside above-ground vaults make them more likely to float.

If a body is buried in a coffin very deep the ground it could take 50 years for all the tissue to de-compose, and hundreds of years for the bones to fully decay.

Why do they cover the legs in a casket? ›

The most common reasons to cover a person's legs in a casket are to keep focus on their face and to follow cultural, regional, or religious traditions. Half-couch caskets have split lids that shield the lower half of the body and are common choices for loved ones planning an open-casket service.

The oral and nasal cavities are swabbed clean, checked for any purge material, then the throat area is packed with cotton. A common method of mouth closure is via needle injector. A needle with a barbed tip and with a wire attached is driven into the maxilla, behind the teeth, and another driven into the mandible.

These changes unfold quickly, over a few days. Your muscles relax. Your muscles loosen immediately after death, releasing any strain on your bowel and bladder. As a result, most people poop and pee at death.

Physical signs of dying

Facial muscles may relax and the jaw can drop. Skin can become very pale. Breathing can alternate between loud rasping breaths and quiet breathing. Towards the end, dying people will often only breathe periodically, with an intake of breath followed by no breath for several seconds.

Bodies that are not embalmed will decompose at their normal rate, depending on the cause of death, weight of deceased, temperature, moisture levels, and other factors. If the body is not embalmed, you will need to hold the service, burial, or cremation as soon as possible after the death.

Eventually these too will disintegrate, and after 80 years in that coffin, your bones will crack as the soft collagen inside them deteriorates, leaving nothing but the brittle mineral frame behind. But even that shell won't last forever. A century in, the last of your bones will have collapsed into dust.

If you are looking at a long-lasting ground casket, pick a steel or metal casket. If the grave site is low on water content or moisture, metal caskets are known to last even longer, over five decades. Under favorable weather conditions, experts say that metal caskets may even last more than that – up to 80 years.

You'll be down to your skeleton but not for much longer. Because, after 100 years, the last of your bones will have collapsed into dust. In fact, only the teeth will be left, given that they are the most durable part of your body. So there you have it.

24-72 hours after death — the internal organs decompose. 3-5 days after death — the body starts to bloat and blood-containing foam leaks from the mouth and nose. 8-10 days after death — the body turns from green to red as the blood decomposes and the organs in the abdomen accumulate gas.