POSTMORTEM TRANSFORMATIONS OF STEROLS IN BOG BODY-TISSUES

Gas chromatography/mass spectrometry has been employed to analyse the sterol composition of lipid extracts of the tissue (skin and muscle) samples taken from a recently excavated bog body (Lindow Man). The results are compared and contrasted with parallel analyses performed on peat collected adjacent to the buried body. The data obtained provide clear indications of the post-mortem molecular transformations mediated by micro-organisms (gut micro-flora) endogenous to the body at the time of death and possibly exogenous bacteria, invading the body from the surrounding peat following burial. Comparison of sterol composition of the body tissues and of the peat shows that the mobility of sterols in the aqueous peat bog environment is restricted because of their inherent hydrophobic properties.