3/28/23, 9:36 AM Here Is What Happens To Your Body During Each Of The 8 Stages Of Death

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Here Is What Happens To Your Body During Each Of The 8

Stages Of Death
Inigo Gonzalez
Updated July 22, 2019 • 928.2k views • 10 items

Humans naturally wonder what happens after death. While we may not have the spiritual or
metaphysical answers, we do know what happens to the body as it decomposes. Though
most of us have a cursory understanding of decay, not everyone knows that there are
actually eight stages of death. The body goes through these specific stages of decay as it
makes its way from still-warm-to-the-touch to complete fossilization. 

How long it takes for a dead body to become a skeleton and go through the entire process of
decomposition varies depending on several factors. The temperature of the environment,
the fat content of the body, and other details affect how quickly the body decomposes.
Or, like the mysterious bog bodies, how quickly the body becomes preserved. In some rare
cases, the body will become naturally mummified, which can be more bizarre than these
eight stages.

Photo: The Naked Ape / flickr / CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

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3/28/23, 9:36 AM Here Is What Happens To Your Body During Each Of The 8 Stages Of Death

Pallor Mortis
Pallor mortis - meaning “paleness of death” - happens a few minutes after passing
simply because the heart stops pumping. Basically, once the blood flow stops,
gravity takes over and all of the blood pools to the lowest parts of the body. Once
that happens, the skin pales. The only reason humans have that “healthy” look when
alive is due to the presence of blood.

The pooling eventually reveals itself during the fourth stage of death, called livor
mortis. Those who are already pale from a lack of melanin or suffer from anemia
often reach pallor mortis faster than others.

Rate of Occurrence: 15 to 25 minutes post-mortem.

Algor Mortis
The “coldness of death” happens relatively quickly, since the heart is no longer
pumping warm blood throughout the body. Without fresh, warm blood pumping
through the veins, there’s nothing to stop the body from adjusting to the
temperature of the area it's in.

Although it takes about an hour for a body to lose its “living” temperature, many
things can affect it, such as clothing. All those layers certainly help insulate the
body, but if those clothes are wet, then algor mortis kicks in faster. The amount of
body fat also greatly contributes to algor mortis as well - the thinner the body, the
faster its temperature drops. The body’s temperature starts to increase again once
the sixth stage starts, or during decomposition.

Rate of Occurrence: roughly 1 hour post-mortem.

Rigor Mortis
As we exercise, our bodies produce lactic acid to help prevent our muscles from
getting damaged by strenuous activity. During the “stiffness of death,” the body

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3/28/23, 9:36 AM Here Is What Happens To Your Body During Each Of The 8 Stages Of Death

produces a copious amount of lactic acid. However, without the intake of oxygen to

counteract the lactic acid, all muscles stiffen to the point of rigidity.

Of course, the more muscle a body has, the faster and more intense the rigor mortis
stage becomes. Rigor mortis starts to fade once the body enters the fifth stage of
putrefaction. 

Rate of Occurrence: 2 to 48 hours post-mortem.

Livor Mortis
Livor mortis is known as the “bluish color of death” that starts to happen right after
the heart stops beating. Without an active circulatory system, all the blood pools to
the lowest parts of the body. During livor mortis, the body starts getting blotchy, and
around the six-hour mark, the blood still retains some fluidity. If one were to
press on the skin, the skin would turn white.

However, once the body passes the 10-hour mark, the stains become permanent as
the blood congeals, and pressing the skin does nothing to change its color. When
the hemoglobin in the blood starts to break down in the final stages of livor mortis,
the skin begins to appear "marbled." Other signs also appear, such as blood spots
due to ruptured capillaries.

Rate of Occurrence: 20 minutes to 12 hours post-mortem.

Putrefaction
Putrefaction is perhaps the most important part of the decay process. It’s where our
internal bacteria start to break down our bodies from within - the body literally eats
itself from the inside via bacterial enzymes and anaerobic organisms found in the
bowel. Internal organs are broken down into liquids and gases, and their buildup
causes the bodies to bloat. In this stage, liquids pour out of all our orifices, while the
gases can cause the skin to rupture. 

Flies also lay millions of eggs on the body, which turns into the maggots. The
insects then help break down the body itself. And along with this bloating and
matter breakdown comes the distinct and rancid smell. Here, the more fat a body

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3/28/23, 9:36 AM Here Is What Happens To Your Body During Each Of The 8 Stages Of Death

has, the faster it breaks down - this is thanks to the amount of moisture the body
holds. More moisture means more bacteria. 

If the temperature is below 50 degrees F or above 118 degrees F, the body can’t
enter the putrefaction stage. This is because the organisms needed to break down
the body (bacteria, insects, maggots, etc.) can’t act in those extreme temperatures.

Rate of Occurrence: 1 day to 2 weeks post-mortem.

True Decomposition
The sixth stage goes by several names: decomposition, true decomposition,
and biotic decomposition. Consider the bacterial breakdown of the body during
putrefaction as a simple warm-up for this part of the process. In this stage, the
body is broken down into even smaller bits of organic matter until there’s absolutely
nothing left but the skeleton.

And a great many things can affect true decomposition: temperature, being
submerged, animal life, size, age, and if the person who passed was an omnivore.
Those who eat meat tend to have more post-mortem bacteria, which means their
bodies decompose faster than their vegan and vegetarian brethren. 

Rate Of Occurrence: 2 weeks to 10+ years post-mortem.

Skeletonization
Skeletonization is a straightforward process: once all of the skin, organs, and other
organic matter are broken down in the decomposition stage, all that should be left
is the skeleton. A multitude of factors affect how fast a body is
skeletonized. Temperature again plays a large part - the colder it is, the longer it will
take. Meanwhile, depending on certain rare circumstances, skeletonization may
never occur.

For example, bodies in sub-zero temperatures often remain preserved for

decades. People who pass in a peat bog can also become preserved and essentially
mummified. The peat acts as a natural embalming fluid that keeps the body from
fully decomposing.

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3/28/23, 9:36 AM Here Is What Happens To Your Body During Each Of The 8 Stages Of Death

Rate of Occurrence: 3 weeks to 5+ years post-mortem.

Fossilization
Even skeletons don’t last forever. If the conditions are just right, a skeleton could
take decades to break down into nothing. And if the conditions are perfect, that
same skeleton could be turned into a fossil. If a body is buried underground, the
decomposition stage often proceeds as normal - the soft matter is soon removed
leaving just the skeleton behind. 

And that skeleton, now trapped under layers of sediment, slowly breaks down over
thousands of years. As the bones dissolve, minerals crystallize in the spaces
between and petrify the remains. Another way for a fossil to form is when the
skeleton dissolves completely and the remaining space is filled with minerals,
which harden into the shape of the skeleton.

Rate of Occurrence: thousands of years post-mortem.

Ways In Which Decay Is Accelerated Or Slowed

Decay is a biological process that involves a multitude of organisms - the most
important pieces being microbes and bacteria. They start to break down the body
during the fifth stage of death, putrefaction. And just like any other living organism,
extreme conditions can slow down or even stop them from acting in the first place.

The three main factors that affect these microbes are temperature, water, and
oxygen. For example, sub-zero temperatures can prevent bacteria from breaking
down a body altogether. On the other hand, if a body is left out in the open during
summer, the decomposition process could take days rather than weeks. Not only is
that organic matter broken down by bacteria, but by insects, vegetation, and animal
life as well.

Even though we have developed embalming, a process which greatly slows down
decomposition, in the right conditions, almost all bodies will decompose. 

Water Greatly Affects All Stages Of Death

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3/28/23, 9:36 AM Here Is What Happens To Your Body During Each Of The 8 Stages Of Death

A body submerged in water could take a very long time to properly decompose, but
that isn’t the only stage that’s affected by water. For example, the water could cause
algor mortis to set in faster, and the body's temperature dissipates much faster in
water. During livor mortis, the blood doesn’t pool at the bottom of a body, rather it
“floats” to the top. If the body is completely submerged, putrefaction occurs slower -
it’s too cold and there isn’t enough oxygen for the bacteria to do its job. 

And if it’s submerged in saltwater, insects such as flies are repelled and won't lay the
larvae necessary to break down the body. However, if the body is in warm
freshwater filled with wildlife, then decay will happen just as quickly as it would if it
were out in a sunny pasture.  

The temperature of the water also matters. If it’s cold enough - at most 44 degrees
F - the body’s fat turns into adipocere. This encases the entire body in a wax that
essentially protects and preserves it for weeks longer than normal.

next up
Filed under: Biology, Human Body, Graveyard Shift, Science

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