[MR] Quick Lime (Lye)

[E L Wimett]

Well, actually, there is solid documentary evidence for the use of lime 
(presumbly quick lime) for mass burial pits during periods of plague as 
well as for the burial of criminals in period.

Alisoun who has always been interested in burial customs AND plagues

On Thursday, May 10, 2001 1:56 PM, Terry L Neill [SMTP:t_neill at hotmail.com] 
wrote:
> >I'm less interested in soapmaking than in hiding the corpses. Is ashe 
lye
> >suitable for this?
> >
> >What period methods were used, aside from burning and burial? Was
> >dismemberment/disbursal popular? How widespread was cannibalism?
>
>
> Well, Philip,
>
> During the SCA's time period cannibalism in Western Europe was pretty 
darned
> near unknown.
>
> In Western Europe, in most Christian cultures, internment burial was the
> norm.  In pre-Christian cultures, either internment or cremation, usually 

> with grave goods, and it could vary within a culture. (There are both
> internment and cremation graves in the same cemeteries in Scandinavia in
> pre-Christian Viking times.)
>
> I've no idea if the lye water one can obtain from ashes is potent enough 
to
> dissolve corpses.  You can run the lye water through another set of ashes 

> and make it stronger.  So it's possible that they could have made it 
strong
> enough.  But did they use it for that?  I doubt it; but have done zilch
> research into it.
>
> Regards!
>
> - Anarra
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