Rigor mortis causes the body’s muscles to stiffen after death due to the absence of ATP. It begins around three hours after death and lasts for 36-72 hours. It can help determine the time of death and prevent the corpse from being positioned incorrectly during funerary traditions.
Rigor mortis is a condition that begins to develop in the body after death. Essentially, the action of rigor mortis is to initiate a process in which the muscles of the body begin to stiffen. In most situations, the corpse will begin experiencing rigor mortis approximately three hours after death and will continue to experience muscle stiffening for thirty-six to seventy-two hours.
Rigor mortis occurs due to the fact that once a living thing is dead, there is no longer a constant stream of adenosine triphosphate or ATP flowing into the muscles. ATP is needed to help the muscles break free from the contracted state caused by the presence of calcium ions flowing into the muscles and act as a bridge or connection between the actin and myosin present in the muscle fiber. Without ATP to initiate a release of that connection, the muscles continue to contract, causing the dead body to stiffen. It is only when the muscle fibers begin to break down that the bond between the actin and myosin fibers breaks down and the body’s muscles begin to lose their stiffness.
The reality of rigor mortis often led to situations where the corpse was looked at on the first night after death. Commonly referred to as “sitting with the body,” the purpose of the action was to prevent stiffened muscles from working the corpse into positions not suited to funerary traditions. Often many people stay with the cadaver overnight and straighten the limbs or lower the torso of the body into the prone position when muscle stiffening causes a knee or elbow to bend, or the cadaver sags at the waist and appears to sit.
The state of rigor mortis can also help medical examiners and law enforcement professionals determine the approximate time of death when the individual has not expired in a nursing facility or while loved ones were nearby. Along with other factors, the degree of muscle stiffening that is present during autopsy procedures helps narrow the range for time of death, and thus provides valuable clues when foul play is suspected.
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