Bog body

A bog body is a human corpse that has naturally mummified in a peat bog.

Usually, after death, the body decays, leaving only bones. Bog bodies are different because a bog's environment is acidic and lacks oxygen.[1] This partially or fully preserves the body[2] so that features like skin, fingernails, and hair are still present.[3]

Most bog bodies have been found in Northern Europe. However, in the U.S. state of Florida, experts have found the preserved skeletons of ancient Native Americans.[4] The oldest bog body ever discovered died around 8,000 BCE.[5]

History

Since the 17th century, people have been finding bog bodies in Europe.[6] In 1640 a bog body was discovered in 1640 at Schalkholz Fen in Holstein, Germany.[6] This is probably the first discovery ever to be recorded.[6]

Bog bodies date back to the Neolithic period. The oldest yet discovered died around 8,000 BCE, during the Neolithic.[5][7] The most recent bog bodies are almost 10,000 years younger: they come from the World War II era.[8]

Violence

Many bog bodies show signs of being stabbed, beaten, hanged, strangled, beheaded, or a combination of these methods.[9] In the case of the Osterby Man found in 1948 at Kohlmoor (near Osterby, Germany), the head had been deposited in the bog without its body.[9]

Noteworthy bog bodies

Many bog bodies have been found and contribute to historians' understanding of past societies. The following list of noteworthy bog bodies and the information about them were taken from Encyclopedia Britannica.[1]

Tollund Man

Tollund Man has the best-preserved body of all bog bodies ever found. Only his arms and hands decayed to bone. The rest of his body is so well preserved that frown lines are visible on his forehead.

He was found in 1950 in Bjældskovdal bog, Denmark. Later, another bog body nicknamed Elling Woman was found just 200 feet away.

Tollund Man dates to the early Iron Age, around 280 BCE. He died around age 30 - 40 from hanging. Because his neck bones were not broken, experts know that he suffocated to death.

Yde Girl

Yde Girl died between 170 BCE and 230 CE. She died by strangulation around age 16; a woolen band still remains around her throat. She was also stabbed near her left collarbone. She had scoliosis and probably walked irregularly.

She was found in 1897 near the village of Yde, Drenthe, in the Netherlands.

Weerdinge Couple (or Weerdinge Men)

These are two bog bodies found together in 1904. The bodies were found on Bourtanger Moor in the Netherlands.

The smaller body was stabbed in the chest, and his intestines were protruding from the wound. Its arm lies under the bigger body, whose cause of death is unknown

Because of the position of these bodies, scholars first thought the two were a couple: male and female. However, since then, experts have found that both figures are men.

Elling Woman

This bog body was found in 1938 in Bjældskovdal bog near Silkeborg, Denmark. She died around 280 BCE, in the early Ice Age, at around 25 years old. Historians know she was hanged because she had clear marks around her neck.

Twelve years after she was found, the Tollund Man was located just 200 feet away.

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 "9 Noteworthy Bog Bodies | Britannica". www.britannica.com. Retrieved 2025-04-22.
  2. ↑ Sanden, Wijnand van der (1996). Through nature to eternity: the bog bodies of northwest Europe. Amsterdam: Batavian Lion International. pp. 7. ISBN 978-90-6707-418-6.
  3. ↑ Munksgaard, Elisabeth (1 January 1984). "Bog Bodies: A Brief Survey of Interpretations". Journal of Danish Archaeology. 3 (1): 120–123. doi:10.1080/0108464X.1984.10589917. ISSN 0108-464X.
  4. ↑ "Bog Bodies". education.nationalgeographic.org. Retrieved 2025-04-22.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 "Koelbjerg Woman". Bodies of the Bogs. Archeology Magazine. 1997. Retrieved 21 March 2013.
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 "Bodies in the Bog: The Lindow Mysteries". Science History Institute. Retrieved 2025-04-22.
  7. ↑ "Oldest bog body". Guinness World REcords.
  8. ↑ Cockburn, Aidan; Cockburn, Eve; Reyman, Theodore Allen, eds. (1998). Mummies, disease & ancient cultures (2 ed.). Cambridge New York: Cambridge University Press. p. 237. ISBN 978-0-521-58954-3.
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 Glob, P.V. (1969). The Bog People: Iron Age Man Preserved. pp. 116-117. Faber and Faber.
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