Bog Bodies: See The Pre-Egyptian Mummies Made By Nature
The Borremose Man died in the 7th century BCE. He was bludgeoned to death from the back of his head and had a rope with a slip knot tied around his neck. It is believed that he was a human sacrifice. He was found in the Borremose peat bog in Himmerland, Denmark in 1946. Shortly after, two other, less well preserved, bodies were discovered in the same marsh.
When two Danish brothers stumbled across a body while collecting peat, a soil-like material burned for fuel, in a bog outside of Silkeborg in 1950, they were terrified.
The two immediately called the police and alerted them that there had been a murder. While the corpse had clearly been tanned by the chemicals of the swamp, the body seemed only a few days old.
Furthermore, a boy from Copenhagen had disappeared in the region just a few days earlier, leading the boys, as well as authorities, to think the worst.
However, when police arrived and discovered that the body was found under over six feet of peat with no signs of recent digging, they quickly realized that the body was not a criminal matter, but a historic one.
After running radiological tests, archeologists determined the man had died over 2,000 years ago, between 375–210 BCE, well out of the jurisdiction of the police.
This body, later dubbed the "Tollund Man" after the village the brothers were from, was one of the best preserved of the bog mummies that had been discovered across Europe for hundreds of years.
The Tollund Man had a noose still hanging around his neck, and a pointed sheepskin hat on his head. Otherwise, he was completely naked. His body arrangement, with his eyes closed and the body placed in a kneeling position, suggests that he was likely a human sacrifice placed in the swamp after he was hanged.
"Bog bodies" is the name given to the many corpses discovered throughout Western Europe that were mummified and preserved by the highly acidic water, low temperature, and a lack of oxygen in peat bogs.
This unique environment can perfectly preserve the skin and internal organs of a body, as well as even their hair and fingernails.
These bodies date back to 8000 BCE, but most recovered are from the Iron Age when peat bogs covered much of Europe. Bog bodies have even been discovered dating up to World War I.
Thousands of bog bodies have been recovered. However, for hundreds of years, locals, believing the bodies were recent, reburied most of them in graveyards.
It was not until the 19th century that people realized the age of these bodies, and began documenting and collecting them.
Though they each have their own unique story, many of the bodies seem to have been human sacrifices or executed criminals. Many of the bodies recovered from the Iron Age show signs of being stabbed, bludgeoned, hanged or strangled, often while attempting to defend themselves.
Peat bogs held an important spiritual place in many Iron Age societies, and many of these are theorized to have been human sacrifices placed there to ensure a plentiful harvest. Many of these identified as being high status at the time of their death, from their manicured nails and good nutrition, are believed to have been kings or rulers sacrificed due to a poor harvest.
Bodies such as these have been found near hills used for kingship initiations.
Other bodies, like a 16th-century noblewoman found in an Irish bog, were likely placed there as they had killed themselves and therefore could not be buried in a Christian graveyard.
Though these disparate bodies have different stories, they provide a very tangible connection with our past, showing how much things have changed, and how little humans have, over the last couple thousand years.
The face of the Tollund Man.
The Yde Girl died sometime between 54 BCE and 128 CE at an approximate age of 16 years old. She suffered from scoliosis and had long reddish blonde hair that was preserved by the swamp. She was buried with a ritually tied woolen braid around her neck suggesting she was killed as a human sacrifice. However, due to damage to the body at the time of discovery, the cause of her death is unknown. She was found outside the village of the village of Yde, Netherlands.
The Grauballe Man died during the late 3rd century BCE when he was around thirty years old. He was found naked, with no indication of any clothing around him. His neck was slit from ear-to-ear in a bog in Jutland, Denmark in 1955. His well-preserved hair was likely dark brown during his life but was turned red by the bog. Historians believe he was likely a human sacrifice.
The Tollund Man was an approximately 40-year-old man who was killed sometime between 375 and 210 BCE. He was found with a noose around his neck, indicating he was hanged to death, as well as a sheepskin cap on his head. He was found in a bog outside of the Danish town of Silkeborg in 1950.
The Damendorf Man died around 300 BCE and had his body squashed flat by the weight of the peat that accumulated on top of him. He was found in a bog outside the German town of Damendorf in 1900 with a leather belt, shoes, and a pair of breeches.
The Bocksten Man likely lived sometime between 1290 and 1430. He was a tall, slender man, most likely in his 40s at the time of his death. He was killed and impaled with two wooden poles, one that went directly through his heart, to the bed of a lake that would later become a bog. This impaling likely happened after his death as he also has a large wound on his head.
He was found in a bog near Varberg Municipality, Sweden in 1936. His hair was found perfectly preserved, and he was also discovered with a hooded garment and an engraved leather sheath.
The Arden Woman lived during the 14th Century BCE and was around 20–25 years old at the time of her death. She was found in the Bredmose bog in Hindsted, Denmark in 1942. Police said the corpse was found in a 'question mark' shape. Her well-preserved hair was dark blond, drawn into two pigtails, and coiled around the top of her head. Unlike some bog bodies, she was found with garments and with no evidence of a violent death.
The full body of The Grauballe Man. His hands were so well preserved that researchers were able to take the fingerprints of the over 2,000-year-old body.
Roter Franz died in the Bourtanger Moor, on what is now the border of Germany and the Netherlands, sometime between 220 and 430 CE during the Roman Iron Age. The name Roter Franz (meaning Red Franz in English) is derived from the red hair and beard discovered on the body. He was killed when his throat was slit and had an arrow wound on his shoulder.
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