BOG BODIES PRESERVED HUMAN REMAINS

BOG BODIES INTRO Bog mummies have been found in the cold, watery peat bogs of Ireland, Scotland, England, the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, and Sweden.

Bog mummies are accidental mummies, made only by nature. In northern Europe, the people who became bog mummies usually died from years ago, though some are even older and others much more recent.

RESEARCH What is a peat bog? How does it preserve human remains?

EXAMPLES OF SOME OF THE MORE FAMOUS BOG BODIES

YDE GIRL Found in the Netherlands Peatcutters using a scoop to dredge peat from the bog in 1897 were so terrified to see her body that they ran away. Her red hair caused them to think that they had come face-to- face with the devil.

Weerdinge Men the bodies were long thought to be those of a man and woman. They were called the Weerdinge couple, and they were even given names: Darby (for the man) and Joan.

Rendswühren Man Found in Germany He was between years of age when he died

TOLLUND MAN Found in 1950 The bog body was so well-preserved that their immediate reaction was to call the police. It is the best preserved body in the world

WINDEBY GIRL Discovered in Germany in 1952 She is a teenage girl who was killed some 2,000 years earlier and buried in the bog. They actually found two bodies but she is the better preserved.

GRAUBALLE MAN The bog body now known as Grauballe man was found in April 1952, near the village of Grauballe, Denmark. He’s so well preserved his fingernails and hair are still intact.

LINDOW MAN

FINDING LINDOW MAN Found on August 1 st, 1984, in England by Andy Mould. He was working with Eddie Slack, placing blocks of peat onto an elevator that would transport them to a shredding mill, when he looked at one block of peat and noticed what he thought was a piece of wood embedded in it. He threw it toward Eddie but it struck the ground and crumbled, revealing a human foot. Without hesitation, Andy reported his disturbing find, and shortly the police arrived.

They covered it with wet peat until scientists could be summoned to view the body. Five days later, in the presence of several paleobotanists and a biologist, the block of peat containing Lindow Man was cut, placed on a sheet of plywood, and transported to a local hospital. There, the authorities attempted to date the remains.

As it turned out, Lindow Man had died between A.D. 50 and A.D The scientists learned, when the body was examined, that the man had been murdered.

HOW DID THEY FIND THIS OUT?

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QUESTIONS ON THE LINDOW MAN What parts of his body did they test? What tests did they do? What did they discover? How did they reconstruct him? Find a picture of his facial reconstruction. What was in his stomach? Why was he killed? Where is he now?