CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF A BOG BODY ADIPOCERE

Chemical analyses were carried out on adipocere obtained from a bog body recovered from a peat bog at Meenybradden, County Donegal, Ireland. Chromatographic (thin‐layer chromatography and gas chromatography) and mass spectrometric analyses, combined with microanalytical chemical transformations, have yielded detailed compositional information. An absence of intact triacylglycerols, diacylglycerols and monoacylglycerols indicates that hydrolysis is complete. Consequently the adipocere is composed mainly of fatty carboxylic acids. The high proportion of palmitic and stearic acids, together with depleted oleic acid content, indicates that extensive reduction and, possibly, β‐oxidation have occurred during burial in the peat bog. Hydration of the double‐bond in oleic acid has also occurred, as is shown by the formation of 10‐hydroxystearic acid. The monoenoic fatty carboxylic acids that are present, composed mainly of C18 and C16 compounds, comprise a mixture of positional isomers. The results are compared and contrasted with those obtained from previous studies of the lipid composition of other adipoceres and cadavers of archaeological interest.