FLESH-EATING OR FALLACY?: INSIGHTS INTO THE MYSTERIOUS PROPERTIES OF LAPIS SARCOPHAGUS STONE FROM A 40-DAY EXPERIMENT INVOLVING DECOMPOSITION OF CHICKEN WINGS

An experiment was designed to test the “flesh-eating” properties of Lapis sarcophagus stone described in the 1st century Natural History book by the Roman philosopher Pliny the Elder. Most Roman sarcophagi were made of limestone or marble, but those from Assos in Turkey were made of andesite, referred to as the Sarcophagus Stone (from Greek sarx, “flesh,” and phagein, “to eat”), and supposedly capable of decomposing an entire human body, except the teeth, in 40 days.

The experiment used chicken wings and 4 different stones: andesite (from Indonesia), marble (Carrara, Italy), porous limestone (Pleistocene of the Bahamas), and better lithified Indiana Limestone (Mississippian Salem Fm.). Stone slices (10x10x1cm) were put on soil and topped with a wing (35 g) with either no additives or with 5 g of powdered quicklime (calcium oxide, CaO) or alum (hydrated potassium aluminum sulfate, KAl(SO₄)₂x12H₂O). Quicklime and alunite (hydroxylated potassium aluminum sulfate mineral, KAl₃(SO₄)₂(OH)₆; associated with volcanic rocks and used in manufacture of alum) were potential additives to Roman sarcophagi.

After being left outside for 40 days, covered with a glass bell and a styrofoam lid, the wings on porous limestone had the largest number of insects and decomposed the most (61% average weight loss), while those on andesite decomposed the least (28%). Porosity of limestone enhanced decomposition of skin and flesh (there was no apparent bone loss) by providing access to moisture and oxygen. The acid-neutralizing capacity of carbonates also likely enhanced decomposition by microorganisms.

The chemicals covering large wing surfaces impeded insect activity, yet the wings with no additives and those with caustic, alkaline quicklime had similar and on average higher weight loss (41% and 43%, respectively), compared to the wings with alum (34%). It is, therefore, surprising that alunite has been proposed as the key component of Lapis sarcophagus given its use as an antibacterial agent for skin treatment and the use of alum as a food preservative. This study disputes Pliny’s notion that the Sarcophagus Stone, regardless of its composition, can quickly decompose an entire corpse. Future research will include analysis of bacterial communities collected from the wings after 40 days as well as petrography and geochemistry of the stones.