Corpses In Portugal Are Mysteriously Turning Into Mummies, No One Knows Why

There is a crisis in Portugal's graveyards -- random dead bodies are refusing to rot. The corpses are naturally turning into mummies, and scientists have no clue why.

In a bid to save space, local laws require bodies to be routinely exhumed so that the decomposed skeletal remains can be shifted to smaller containers.

However, many bodies just don't decompose, making repeated unearthing of the dead a harrowing experience for the family.

What's more, scientists are unable to understand why the bodies are mummifying on their own.

The concept of temporary graves was introduced in the early 1960s in Portugal. The idea was to bring down overcrowding in cemeteries.

"We don't have space to establish new cemeteries or upgrade cemeteries that already exist" in cities, Angela Silva Bessa, a forensic anthropologist from the University of Coimbra, said, reported ScienceAlert.

Since decomposed bodies take less space, the bones can be laid to rest in a smaller coffin, which will occupy less area, like in dedicated drawers in the walls of the cemeteries.

Three years after a body has been buried, the family can expect a letter reminding them the remains will need to be moved as soon as it decomposes.

As per the law, a decomposed body is just a skeleton, with no remaining soft tissue.

In order to make sure the bodies are decomposed, gravediggers dig up the body. On finding the body is still not ready, the gravediggers rebury it, only to dig it up again every two years.

Following a survey of cemeteries in Porto, the second-largest city in Portugal, it was found about 55-64% of bodies between 2006 and 2015 were not fully decomposed after their first unearthing.

Paulo Carreira, funeral homeowner and chief executive of the national funeral association of Portugal, told Insider the families are able to face the first digging decently.

But as the process is repeated, it becomes emotionally damaging for the families.

Carreira said in some unfortunate cases, it can take up to decades for the body to fully decompose only after which it can reach a final resting place. For a certain number of unlucky corpses, the process is never-ending as they mummify.

Natural mummification, unlike Egyptian mummification, usually happens when a body dries up quickly, simply stopping decomposition. This process is likely to take place in extreme environments like deserts or glaciers, or in intense heat and cold.

Silva Bessa and her colleagues have been investigating the reason behind this bizarre occurrence.

"It's quite astonishing," Bessa told Insider. "In the same section of the cemetery, I have different stages of decomposition. Even on the same body, I might have all the body skeletonized, the pelvis area is in putrefaction, and the hands mummified. So, you can find a little bit of everything."