Long-Dead Bishop's Coffin is Full of Coffin Beetles

Discoblog
By Veronique Greenwood
Aug 1, 2012 12:55 AMNov 19, 2019 8:57 PM

Newsletter

Sign up for our email newsletter for the latest science news
 

Archaeoentomology is a strange little corner of archaeology. Its practitioners search for signs of ancient bug life---fossilized eggs, old fly pupae, the like---in dig sites to tell, for instance, whether a body lay exposed before burial. One area they'd really like to know more about is what moves into coffins with bodies once they've, ah, started to go to earth. The worms crawl in, the worms crawl out, the worms play pinochle on your snout, to be sure, but which worms? So there's some interesting news in the latest issue of Forensic Science International for archaeoentomologists: researchers have produced a thorough catalogue of what was living inside the lead coffin of Archbishop William Greenfield shortly after he died in 1315

. (The coffin was disturbed during renovations to the church where it lies; the sample was taken then.) The researchers can't really say whether the list of long-dead insects whose parts they found means something particular about the bishop's body. But they present it as a case study of what moved in with the dead 700 years ago. In Greenfield's case, the answer is plenty of beetles, and the coffin beetle in particular, which is interesting, because you don't see those so much anymore. "Its decline in frequency may relate to the increased care taken in burial to a prescribed depth in sealed wooden coffins," the researchers point out. We don't know exactly what the beetle eats, they add: "There are differing opinions as to the beetle’s pabulum, whether it feeds on the fatty substances of the decomposing body, the coffin wood, fungi either found on the body itself or on the wood, or whether it is predatory on other inhabitants of the corpse." It's an interesting glimpse into the ecology of a burial, and also a reminder that lead coffins, unfortunately, don't do much to keep the creepy-crawlies out.

1 free article left
Want More? Get unlimited access for as low as $1.99/month

Already a subscriber?

Register or Log In

1 free articleSubscribe
Discover Magazine Logo
Want more?

Keep reading for as low as $1.99!

Subscribe

Already a subscriber?

Register or Log In

More From Discover
Recommendations From Our Store
Stay Curious
Join
Our List

Sign up for our weekly science updates.

 
Subscribe
To The Magazine

Save up to 40% off the cover price when you subscribe to Discover magazine.

Copyright © 2024 LabX Media Group