# How long does it take a human body to turn to a skelton **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 13, 2008, 5:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-it-take-a-human-body-to-turn-to-a-skelton/472495 "2008-11-13T05:26:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Cervaise](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cervaise/32/16693_2.png) [@Cervaise](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cervaise)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2008, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-it-take-a-human-body-to-turn-to-a-skelton/472495/21 "2008-11-13T16:58:21Z")
Ditto, how often does John Edward say, “I’m hearing a voice … it’s from someone named, named Edgar … he says … he says, ‘STOP BOTHERING ME YOU SCREECHING HARPY, I NEVER LOVED YOU, AND BY THE WAY I FUCKED YOUR SISTER.’ Does this sound familiar to anyone?” ---
**Author:** ![Petrobey\_Mavromihalis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/bcef8e/32.png) [@Petrobey\_Mavromihalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Petrobey_Mavromihalis)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2008, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-it-take-a-human-body-to-turn-to-a-skelton/472495/22 "2008-11-13T17:01:26Z")
> [@masterofnone](#): > > How often do they say he was an a$$hole? Probably about as often as fortune tellers in the US tell people that they aren’t going to meet a tall dark stranger and will die miserable and alone. 😉 Or what **Cervaise** said . . . ---
**Author:** ![Gymnopithys](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/fbc32d/32.png) [@Gymnopithys](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gymnopithys)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2008, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-it-take-a-human-body-to-turn-to-a-skelton/472495/23 "2008-11-13T17:27:14Z")
It depends much on the quality of soil. Just last month a cemetary was disaffected in Zurich, Switzerland. Bodies interred 30 years ago in clay soil weren’t completely decomposed. ---
**Author:** ![Markxxx](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5daacb/32.png) [@Markxxx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Markxxx)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2008, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-it-take-a-human-body-to-turn-to-a-skelton/472495/24 "2008-11-13T19:38:07Z")
I read lots of murder / detective type stories and they always dig up the grave. If they moved the bones they wouldn’t be able to find the person and prove the lady did poison her husband 30 years ago 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2008, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-it-take-a-human-body-to-turn-to-a-skelton/472495/25 "2008-11-13T20:09:03Z")
Am I the only one here who gets a kick out of someone named **PoorYorick** posting to this thread? Or, for that matter, someone named Roach writing a book about decomposition? ---
**Author:** ![Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Hazle\_Weatherfield](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hazle_Weatherfield)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2008, 9:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-it-take-a-human-body-to-turn-to-a-skelton/472495/26 "2008-11-13T21:12:11Z")
I was hoping that Poor Yorick would make an appearance in this thread! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [November 13, 2008, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-it-take-a-human-body-to-turn-to-a-skelton/472495/27 "2008-11-13T22:05:25Z")
I once read that human skeletons (for medical schools) are prepared (in India) by placing a cadaver on an ant hill. The ants strip the bones quite efficiently [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-long-does-it-take-a-human-body-to-turn-to-a-skelton/472495.md?page=1)