Four Environments That Promote Natural Mummification

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After death, the body undergoes a series of natural transformative decomposition processes that dissolve the soft tissues and internal organs. In some cases, depending on various conditions, like temperature, exposure to solar radiation, ventilation, and humidity, the rapid loss of body moisture necessary for decomposition results in a total drying up of the soft tissue in a process called mummification. Environments that provide the right conditions for mummification include deserts, peat bogs, salt, and ice.

Hot deserts encourage mummification rather than decomposition, as dry heat speeds up the loss of water by the body. The cell enzymes that digest the cells and, consequently, the internal organs require aqueous solutions like water to work. As the body progressively dehydrates, the decomposition process slows down.

Peat bogs also offer a prime environment for mummification. Bogs consist of dense wetlands full of partially decayed vegetation and acidic, cool water devoid of oxygen. The water also lacks minerals like iron, copper, and zinc, which are necessary for bacteria to thrive. This combination of factors preserves the body in a mummified state, resulting in a leathery, brownish body that retains its skin, hair, and nails.

Salt also absorbs moisture, dehydrates the body, and can cause natural mummification in large quantities. Salt can either be found in salt mines or the soil (in the form of nitrate compounds, potassium, sodium, and calcium). Several strains of bacteria that encourage decay cannot survive in a concentrated brine solution. The Egyptians used natron, a type of salt with great drying properties, for their mummification rituals.

Finally, cold and icy conditions work like a giant freezer for the body, preserving the soft tissue by freezing the cellular aqueous solution and other body fluids. These low temperatures render enzymes, bacteria, and other organisms inactive, shielding the body from decomposition.

Danielle Kurin

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