Amino acid racemization in bone and the boiling of the German Emperor Lothar I

Changes in human bones boiled in seawater

“…2 h, for instance "rabo de toro", but tendons require 4 h. Tendons may be eaten or used to construct bows, as Trojans did. A sample treated for 6 h is an extreme that has no reference in the everyday life; still, as already mentioned, German Emperor Lothar I was boiled for 6 h to deflesh the corpse (Bada et al, 1989).…”

“…In this case, such evidence could be indicative of cannibalism as in the Sierra de Atapuerca or among the Anasazi (Cáceres et al, 2007;Roberts et al, 2002). To deflesh the corpse of the German Emperor Lothar I, who died in the 12th century, the body was, apparently, boiled for about 6 h to prevent postmortem decay during transit from the place he died which was 500 km from his castle where he was buried (Bada et al, 1989).…”

Boiled versus unboiled: a study on Neolithic and contemporary human bones

“…The sample treated for 6 h has no reference in everyday life. Still, the corpse of the German Emperor Lothar I was boiled for 6 h to deflesh it (Bada et al, 1989).…”

Cooked Bones? Method and Practice for Identifying Bones Treated at Low Temperature

“…natural factors such as taphonomy and diagenesis (Lyman, , ) and cultural agents including mortuary practices, worked bone, trophy taking, etc., (Duday et al ., ; Cid & Romano, ; Turner & Turner, ; Hurlbut, ; Le Mort, ; Chacon & Dye, ; Emery, ). Among the multiple types of intentional anthropogenic use of bone, we can include cut marks, fractures, thermal alterations or human tooth marks (Shipman et al ., ; Guillon, ; Bada et al ., ; White, ; Etxeberria, ; Pearce & Luff, ; Botella et al ., ; Degusta, ; Hurlbut, ; Caceres et al ., ; Landt, ; Malgosa et al ., ). In archaeology, the recognition of these is crucial as they provide data on the varied cultural practices of human groups.…”

“…Furthermore, the identification of cooked human bones opens interesting new lines of inquiry into new behavioral interpretations pertaining to death, including intentional de‐fleshing in funerary rituals or cannibalism (Bada et al ., ; White, ; Turner & Turner, ; Botella et al ., ; Degusta, ; Hurlbut, ; Oestigaard, ; Pijoan et al ., ). Additionally, the correct identification of boiled bones is important in establishing the taphonomic agents, cultural or natural, that are responsible for site formation processes.…”