Bonekickers

History behind ‘The Eternal Fire’: Fossilisation

Episode three of Bonekickers shows the mineralised body of Boudicca, which while unlikely, is theoretically possible. Bones are commonly mineralised, but soft tissue very rarely is, because for larger animals the process of bacterial decay sets in before the mineralization (which is very slow) can occur.

An important intermediate stage is the formation of adipocere, the residue of fatty acids that make up the body (and looks like a soapy wax) that can occur in humid or wet conditions, and accurately preserve body shape. A possible scenario, is where the high mineral content of the water and waterlogged conditions both arrest bacterial day, and allow for the more rapid replacement of this adipocere by a mineral such as apatite.

The process is helped by the removal of internal organs such as the heart. The earliest examples of soft tissue preservation in fossils (of Jurassic-period squids) were actually recorded in 1844 near Bath by Richard Owen, during the construction of the Great Western Railway.