The Great Basin desert is one of the driest environments in North America.

Annual precipitation in Churchill County averages only a few inches, and the low humidity means that evaporation rates are extremely high.

In a sealed cave environment, with limited air circulation but consistent low humidity, the body of a person wrapped in animal skins and plant materials would lose moisture rapidly after death, before the bacterial activity responsible for decomposition could proceed very far.

Bacteria require moisture to operate.