When someone dies, it may be the end of their journey through this world, but this is not the case with their body. Instead, it will begin the long process of shedding its components. So, what happens when bodies decompose, and why should we learn about it?
For the majority of us, contact with the bodies of people who have passed away begins and ends with the sad occasion of a funeral.
And 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.
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?
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.
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.
