Adipocere Inside Nineteenth Century Femora: The Effect of Grave Conditions.

What is it about?

This paper describes two examples of adipocere found in femora from a nineteenth century churchyard. These findings are contextualised in relation to other similar burials from the same churchyard as well as with the weather conditions at the time of burial (from historical meteorological data and from a diary). Adipocere was not found in other individuals buried in similar graves or with similar states of preservation. This highlights the interplay of many factors leading to adipocere formation.

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Why is it important?

Differential preservation can be used in archaeology to infer particular types of burial. This paper demonstrates the variability in preservation of bone, the presence of adipocere and discusses it in the context of grave type, local and regional weather as well as the preservation of other organic matter. Adipocere was found inside femora from one rock cut and one brick-lined grave. Other organic materials, such as textiles, wood and flowers were well preserved in some graves. Bone preservation was variable. Importantly there did not seem to be a relationship between precipitation, grave type and preservation, indicating that the interplay of factors on preservation is complex.