Well you have to die yess, but in certain types of environment (or wait for a predator or a kind helper to put you in said environment). Best is anoxic mud, deserts... Lebanon is a great Lagerstatt that preserves fossils extremely well. Alternatively if you don't prepare well enough you can just become nothing (dust and wormfood, because you're a looser even in death), or a mummy like the "Bog Bodies", which is still pretty fucking awesome.
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