How long do bodies take to decompose?

Answer 1

Well, it depends on many many different factors: the biggest one, though, is probably moisture. The more moisture in the air, the faster the body decays. And if it's in water, the decomposition rate is twice as fast. By contrast, drier environments (hot or cold) slow things down, which is why you find naturally mummified bodies in both hot and cold climates. Moisture creates an ideal environment for microorganisms which feed on dead tissues and break them down. If you kill the moisture, you kill the microorganisms. And don't forget insects like blowflies.

Of course, there are also funerary factors such as embalming. Fluids like formaldehyde tend to stave off microorganisms until after burial. For a typical buried body (buried in the western fashion), skeletonization takes somewhere around a year, depending on the tightness of the coffin (though most coffins are designed to leak after awhile).

There's also the size and composition of the body itself. For instance, the corpse of a small, thin child would decompose faster than a more heavily built grown man.

So, in other words, skeletonization (as I assume that's what you mean by "decompose") could happen in as little as a few months to as much as a few thousand years.

Answer 2

Well that completely depends on how hot or cold it is (weather), and location of the body, for example in a coffin 6 feet under, or at the bottom of the ocean, etc...

Answer 3

that depends on many factor, such as weather and temperature.
If it's hot and humid(ideal for bacteria growth), the body will decompose much faster.

Answer 4

I do not know i think it all depends on weather and the area where the body is.