Bonekickers

History behind ‘Army of God’: Preservation

One of the challenges of archaeology is to reconstruct the past, through preserved elements. While pottery, bone and metalwork often survives for long periods in the soil, organic materials like wood and textiles decay much more rapidly. Very special circumstances are needed - either waterlogged, very dry, or frozen conditions are the best for organic preservation.

On occasions other exceptional conditions allow for organic preservation. Where a textile has been in contact with metal, the ions from the metal are able to ‘disinfect’ the area and halt bacterial activity, which is a major cause of decay. We see this in Bonekickers, where cloth was in contact with chainmail, to allow a small section to be preserved.