Could someone really find a mummy in his backyard?
I was watching a movie the other night and the main character found a mummy in his backyard. Does this really happen? Could someone find a mummy in his backyard? A mummy is simply a human being whose soft tissue has been preserved long after death. Ordinarily, when a person dies, the decomposition process reduces the body to a bare skeleton in a matter of months. The rate of decomposition is dependent on a number of factors, chiefly the nature of the surrounding environment. (In modern times, the decomposition process takes a little longer than it did in the past, due to all the preservatives we consume.) In most environments, the first stages of decomposition begin within a few hours. In this initial stage, called autolysis, organs that contain digestive enzymes (the intestines, for example) begin to digest themselves. Autolysis is followed by putrefaction, the breakdown of organic matter by bact
