Here's what happens when your dead body is left to rot (plus a few, more practical, uses for it) ... Increasing pressure forces the body's fluids and liquefied organs out of any available orifice. Eyeballs can be dislodged and bodies have even been known to explode.

How long can you keep a body from decomposing?

A body can be refrigerated for an indefinite amount of time before the funeral if you choose. If you use a funeral service, a body is usually refrigerated between 8 and 24 hours, this is dictated by local regulations. The reasons to refrigerate a body differ and you are usually charged per day.

What happens to a body in a sealed casket?

If the coffin is sealed in a very wet, heavy clay ground, the body tends to last longer because the air is not getting to the deceased. If the ground is light, dry soil, decomposition is quicker. ... As those coffins decompose, the remains will gradually sink to the bottom of the grave and merge.