Coffin burial

[bernardo]

When a body is buried in the ground in a coffin, it presumably starts decomposing fairly quickly due to bacteria in the body. But how long does it take before the coffin wood rots enough to let in the worms and maggots to eat the remains? And how long does it take before there is not much more than the skeleton?

[sft42]

If your a budding Gil Grissom you'll find this page has all the answers you need... http://www.bbc.co.uk/health/ask_doctor/death_body.
shtml

[Toglet]

It will vary, not least because of the soil-type and level of dampness, temperature, and size of body.