Waterlogged bog peat preserves organic material largely unchanged for centuries

Evidence

The lack of oxygen in the sodden mat below the living Sphagnum also slows the growth of microbes. As a result, decomposition of the dead Sphagnum is extremely slow; it may persist relatively unaltered for centuries. The buried portions of the Sphagnum plant simply remain, year after year after year, gradually accumulating, filling the pond. My red sneaker, if I could find it in the depths of the bog, would not have decayed at all. Odd to think that a sneaker would outlast a person. In a hundred years, it may end up being the most tangible sign of my brief presence on the planet. I’m glad it was red. — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Gathering Moss, 456

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the ADDENDUM ‘On Sacrifice’ article’s Lindow Man bog body material, and to Kimmerer’s disturbance-as-renewal thread. — connects to: Iron Age communities sacrificed people to bogs for agricultural fertility — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural…, 457; Sphagnum’s acidity made it the main wound dressing in World War I — Robin Wall Kimmerer, Gathering Moss: A Natural and Cultural…, 460
• CANDY: The red sneaker outlasting a person is a delightful, tweetable observation.