is it possible for blood/flesh to remain on a blade for over a century....

[Mark]

Originally Posted by M ELEY

I've been in medicine for close to 20 years, as a paramedic and a nurse. I've seen a lot of crime scenes and bladed weapons used in these. Blood could corrode a blade, but the "stain" as far as we know it, would never remain. Blood is made up of cellular tissue that clots, dries, and flakes off. If we were talking about cloth/textiles, it would be a different story.

I agree that blood would not stain (color or tint) steel in the sense of a stain on cloth. What I meant was the black oxides of the corrosion, which might not necessarily include deep pitting, could remain as a black blotch on the surface of the metal.