Decomposed Bodies

Faline · #1 06-22-2011, 09:19 AM

This body was not found for a week. Notice that the skin turns dark. This is due to iron sulfide when hemeglobin is released from the erythrocytes. The epidermis is beginning to slip free of the dermis on the forehead. The open wound on the left forehead is due to decomposition, not injury.

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This person was dead for over a week before being found. Notice how the skin is blackened. A great deal of liquid blood has poured from the lungs. This is the result of decomposition and appears on about the fourth day.

About the fourth day post-mortem, the blood becomes liquified and gas builds up in the body due to bacterial decomposition. So in ancient times, when someone had died who was presumed to be a vampire, they would excavate the body and drive a wooden stake through the chest. Due to the gas produced by the decomposition and liquifaction of the blood, the body would spurt out blood and gasses would be released, sounding like a sigh.