DID YOU KNOW?
The same acids that preserve the body can dissolve the bones inside it
The Iron Age bog bodies of Northwest Europe are some of the best naturally preserved human remains from the ancient past. While their skin looks like tanned leather and their bodies are seemingly deflated, they are pretty similar to humans living today, which is astonishing considering many of them are at least 2,000 years old. Hundreds of these mummies have been found in the peat bogs of England, Ireland, the Netherlands, Denmark and northern Germany. While sometimes only heads and arms are uncovered, the complete cadavers that have been unearthed often bear traces of terrible violence.
Occasionally hanged or stabbed or with their bodies cut open, the shocking ways in which these people died both repels and fascinates. One of history’s most profound murder mysteries, no contemporary writing can tell us for sure why they were killed or buried in violation of the normal ancient death rites. But evidence increasingly suggests they were key players in human sacrifices.
All of the bodies were interred in peat bogs, which form in low-lying ground where moss gathers. The small amount of oxygen prevents bacteria from breaking down the dead vegetation each year. The resulting peat increases at a rate of just one metre every 1,000 years, creating a cocktail of chemicals – or humic acid – that is able to preserve soft material and bones, tanning skin like leather.
“No contemporary writing can tell us for sure why they were killed and buried”
The earliest record of a bog body find comes from Shalkholz Fen in Germany in 1640. We don’t know what people thought of the mummies when they were first discovered, but it was claimed that one found at Haraldskær in Jutland was the lost remains of Queen Gunnhild in 1835. According to Icelandic sagas, she was a cunning witch who was lured to the bog and drowned by King Harald Bluetooth in the 10th century.
We now know that Haraldskær Woman is actually 1,500 years old, so she can’t be Gunnhild. Her proximity to
