16th April 2013, 09:30 PM
(This post was last modified: 16th April 2013, 09:38 PM by CARTOON REALITY.)
Quote:but my experience suggests there is also some reaction with the clay that lined the pits, perhaps creating some kind of lye that would explain the corrosive effect on modern skinLye was actively used in the early part of the tanning process to burn hair and residual flesh off the animal skin, I've dug tanning pits full of the stuff. I presume this happened quickly and skins were then washed. The oak bark and urine was the next (and most time consuming) step (I've dug lots of those pits too.)
These two sorts of pits are often found together - in Dublin at least.
I saw it happening once in present day Morocco, disgusting work.