Bog bodies are corpses that are mummified when they are submerged in highly acidic bodies of water with low temperatures and oxygen levels, such as peat bogs — and dozens of them have been accidentally uncovered across Europe over the centuries.
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In 1950 , two Danish brothers stumbled across a human trunk while collecting peat from a peat bog out of doors of Silkeborg . Terrified , they directly advise the constabulary . The man appear to have die of late , so the brothers take for granted he was a murder dupe . However , radiocarbon geological dating told quite a dissimilar story : It was actually a 2,400 - year - old peat bog body .
The"Tollund Man , " nicknamed after the hamlet where the adult male who name him lived , had died between 405 and 380 B.C.E. He was found nude with a noose around his neck opening and a parchment hat on his drumhead . Researchers think that he was likely a human sacrifice victim .
The Borremose Man was discovered in the Borremose peat bog in Himmerland, Denmark, in 1946.He was bludgeoned to death around 700 B.C.E. and was found with a rope around his neck.
While the approximation of a corpse lying perfectly preserved beneath peat for thou of year may seem extraordinary , the Tollund Man is just one of many bog body that have been unveil in the last two centuries .
So , how are bog bodies formed ? And what can they reveal about the past ? Above , look through 33 images of the eerie corpses found in bogs across Europe . And below , read about the history of these macabre mummies .
What Are Bog Bodies?
Bog bodies — corpses mummify and bear on by the highly acidic water , grim temperature , and want of atomic number 8 witness in some bogs — have been turn up for hundreds of years . The first commemorate trunk was chance in Germany in 1640 , and hundreds have been unearthed since , though only a few twelve are still intact .
Silkeborg MuseumThe Tollund Man was discovered by two Danish brothers in 1950 . His body was so well preserved that they conceive he was a recent murder victim .
Though the oldest bog body ever get a line dates back to 8000 B.C.E. , not all of them are ancient . In the 1990s , the well - maintain corpses of Russian soldiers stamp out during World War II were found in bog in Poland . And although most bog body have been unveil in Europe , they ’ve appeared elsewhere , too . In the U.S. , Native American remains have been find in Florida bogs .
The unique surround of bogs can perfectly preserve the skin and internal Hammond organ of a human , as well as their hair’s-breadth , fingernails , and stomach contents . This has allowed researchers to fix a plethora of information about the people who were mummified in the bogs , from what they rust for their final meals to the disease they suffered from during their lifetimes .
In fact , Europe ’s bog bodies have even revealed unexampled details about the cultivation in which they once live .
The Famous Bog Mummies Of Europe
The Tollund Man is one of the most famous bog bodies ever discover . But he ’s just one of many mummies to come forth from Europe ’s peat peat bog .
Like the Tollund Man , theGrauballe Manwas discovered in the fifties . And also like the Tollund Man , he was so well maintain that he appeared to be a late cadaver . He even still had flaming crimson hair .
Moesgaard MuseumThe Grauballe Man is so well bear on that he still has a healthy oral sex of hair , though the chemical composition of the peat bog likely alter its coloration over time .
" I stood on the shovel and it careen like a rubber ball , " Tage Busk Sørensen , the peat ship’s boat who discovered the consistency in 1952 , recalled of his eery find , according to theMoesgaard Museum . " I hit him right on the shoulder . There was the fountainhead so fine . I had to get down on my knees to see if it really was a human head . Then I realise it really was . "
An testing of the body bring out it was some 2,300 years one-time . The Grauballe Man was around 30 years onetime when he choke , stood more than five - and - a - one-half feet magniloquent , and had a full head of fuzz . Though it appear shiny red , it ’s unbelievable that it was this colouration when he was alive — the chemical musical composition of the peat bog changed its hue over time .
Half a century originally , another well - preserved peat bog body had been discovered in the Stijfveen bog near the Dutch small town of Yde . Two laborer were dredging peat on a spring Clarence Shepard Day Jr. in 1897 when a morose human form suddenly coat from beneath the H2O . Believing it to be the Devil , they fled .
What they ’d go through was really a 2,000 - year - old peat bog consistence .
TheYde Girl , as the physical structure was nicknamed , was a 16 - class - honest-to-goodness who choke between 54 B.C.E. and 128 C.E. She stood four - and - a - one-half feet tall and come out to have meet from a severe case of scoliosis when she was live .
The Hondsrug UNESCO Global Geopark Foundation / Drents MuseumThe Yde Girl was not as well preserve as some other bog bodies , but she probably suffered a similar fate .
The Yde Girl was not in as good precondition as the Tollund Man or the Grauballe Man , but these three bog bodies had one gruesome thing in common : Like many of the other human remains dredged from peat bogs , they were likely the victims of ritual sacrifice .
How Did These People Die?
The Tollund Man , the Grauballe Man , the Yde Girl , and many other peat bog consistency discovered in Europe ostensibly died crimson Death .
Silkeborg MuseumThe rope around the Tollund Man ’s neck was still visible when he was rive out of a bog in the 1950s .
The Tollund Man was found with a circle around his neck , which is why researchers believe that he was hanged . Though it ’s possible he was a crook , died by suicide , or was murdered , expert have grounds to believe that he was a forfeiture victim . The Tollund Man was repose to relief by someone who shut down his eyes and mouth , and , importantly , he was inter in a bog and not in the globe .
investigator found that the Grauballe Man had a broken shin ivory and a slit pharynx . The Moesgaard Museum theorize that a priest break his wooden leg with a guild , force him onto his knees . The non-Christian priest may have then grabbed his hair’s-breadth , yanked his psyche back , and slice his cervix from auricle to ear .
As for the Yde Girl , theDrents Museumreports that she was strangled by a " woollen banding " that was wrap around her throat three time and possibly stabbed in the cervix .
That said , not all peat bog bodies were inevitably human sacrifice victims . Though many of them carry marks of violence — include the Clonycavan Man , Old Croghan Man , and Lindow Man — others do not . Some may have but drowned while attempting to cross the unreliable landscape . Others may have been victims of slaying .
In all , each bog body tells a distinct story . Found in dissimilar home and herald from different times , these mass lived unequaled lives — and died unique destruction . Their facial feature , gruesome injury , and even the funny contents of their stomachs relate a fascinating chronicle of how ancient humans be and died hundreds or even grand of years ago .
In the gallery above , get to love some of the most famous bog bodies that have been detect so far . And the next time you ’re around a peat peat bog , keep an eye out for a human image emerging from the depth .
After this look at the bog consistency of Europe , see the screamingGuanajuato Mummieswhose faces stay wintry in affright . Then , learn aboutnine other famous mummiesfrom around the world .
Silkeborg MuseumThe Tollund Man was discovered by two Danish brothers in 1950. His body was so well preserved that they thought he was a recent murder victim.
Moesgaard MuseumThe Grauballe Man is so well preserved that he still has a healthy head of hair, though the chemical composition of the peat bog likely changed its color over time.
The Hondsrug UNESCO Global Geopark Foundation/Drents MuseumThe Yde Girl was not as well preserved as some other bog bodies, but she likely suffered a similar fate.
Silkeborg MuseumThe rope around the Tollund Man’s neck was still visible when he was pulled out of a bog in the 1950s.
