A Body after Death

Copyright (c) 1996 by Michael Barlow <mgb@csadfa.cs.adfa.oz.au>

On Sunday night at 8:30 the ABC screened a one hour documentary
entitled `Bodyworks'; consisting chiefly of interviews with Morticians,
funeral directors, hearse drivers, grave diggers etc.
As an addendum to the interviews an announcer provided information
regarding the physical processes of decay that a body undergoes after
death. Such information was provided at intervals throughout the show and
dealt with a time period from immediately following death through to 10
years after. It struck me that while quite morbid, the data would be useful
for many roleplaying situations [e.g., investigators find a 3 day old body -
how do you describe it to them?]. So, listed below, in chronological order
from time of death, are the major points made, [the square brackets are my
personal comments] as I remember them. Be warned, however, that some people
may find some of the descriptions `distasteful'.

The Body and the Physical Processes of Decay

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- 1 hour after death the muscles relax totally.
- 3 hours after death rigor mortis sets in.
[Interesting if they died in an unusual position]
- After 1 day the body has fully returned to room temperature.
[I presume the skin cools much more rapidly but internal...]
- After 1 day the skin shrinks/contracts. This makes it appear that the
hair and nails have, or are still, growing.
- Within 1 to 2 days, if flies are around, they will begin laying maggots
in available areas of the body such as between the lips and eyelids.
- After 2 days rigor mortis relaxes.
- After 2 days the internal tissue begins the process of decay; starting
to turn into gasses and liquids.
- Within 1 week the flesh has become `liquid like' under the skin; and
the skin can fall off if touched.
- In 2 weeks the stomach distends due to accumulation of gasses and this
can lead to the discharge of a dark, bloody liquid from the nose and
mouth of the corpse.
- After 3 to 4 weeks the body is extremely decayed:- hair and nails can
be easily pulled out; the trunk has swollen to twice its size; while
the face has gone a purple green and the tongue protrudes.
- [One bloke mentioned that after 5-6 weeks the body has become what
they in the trade call a `soup'...]
- Finally; if a body is buried in the ground then after a time of 10
years all tissue has turned to liquid and gas and been absorbed by the
surrounding ground leaving only the bones.
 Anyway; I hope the information was useful and not too disturbing.
Any errors are undoubtedly my own as I only started taking notes half
way through the show.