Lipids From Samples of Skin From Seven Dutch Bog Bodies: Preliminary Report

A combination of micro‐analytical techniques including thin layer chromatography (TLC), gas chromatography (GC). and combined gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GCIMS) have been employed to study the lipid compositions of samples of skin from seven Dutch bog bodies. TLC showed that, while phospholipids have been degraded, other acyl lipids, for example triacylglycerols and steryl esters, may remain intact. GC and GC/MS analyses, following treatment of the total lipid extracts with acidified methanol, showed the presence of abundant fatty carboxylic acids and sterols. Molecular analysis by GC/MS allowed distinctions to be drawn between components originating from the bog body and the surrounding peat. Additionally, substances derived from microbial alteration of endogenous skin lipids and from the lipids of the micro‐organisms themselves can be distinguished.