Bog Bodies

Bog Bodies, human bodies, dating from the later prehistoric period, found in peatland bogs, where acidic, anaerobic conditions have preserved them. Over the centuries, hundreds of bodies have been discovered, mostly by peat-cutters, in the bogs of north-western Europe. While some are in a fragmentary or skeletal condition, others are extremely well preserved. They encompass a wide time span, but the majority date from the final centuries bc and the early centuries ad. Because cremation was the usual funerary practice at that time in this region, the bodies are clearly special in some way and they may be linked to the religious beliefs of the period, since bogs, lakes, and other watery places were seen as the dwelling places of gods. Huge quantities of metal objects were deposited there.

The possibility of ritual sacrifice (it may have been a great honour to meet death this way) is suggested by the range in the age and sex of the specimens. Not all are adult males; there are also plenty of women and even young girls. The Windeby Girl (c. ad 1), found in 1950 in northern Germany, was aged about 14; she wore a blindfold, and the left half of her hair had been cropped. The Yde Girl (early 1st century ad), found in Holland in 1897, was aged 16; the right half of her hair had been cropped, but she met a violent death by strangling. Some victims may simply have been forcibly drowned, pinned under water by branches and forked sticks.

In some cases, however, there are signs of extreme violence that seem to go beyond sacrificial ritual and hence suggest execution or murder. The Grauballe Man (c. ad 310), found in Denmark in 1952, had his throat cut from ear to ear; the Huldremose Woman (c. ad 100), found in Denmark in 1879, has limbs that were repeatedly hacked (with the right arm cut off completely); and Lindow Man (1st to 2nd century ad), discovered in Cheshire, England, in 1984, was struck on the head, garotted, and knifed in the throat.

The most famous body is that of Tollund Man (3rd century bc), found in Denmark in 1950. He was aged about 30 to 40 when he died, and stood 1.6 m (5 ft 2 in) high. He was naked except for a leather cap and belt (bog bodies were often naked, though some have cloaks or capes over or near them). His face looks as if he is sleeping peacefully, but he was hanged by the leather noose around his neck. His internal organs were intact, and revealed that his last meal was a gruel of barley and many wild seeds, available in winter or early spring.

According to Classical authors, and especially Tacitus, in these regions cowards, deserters, and homosexuals were drowned in bogs and swamps, and this may explain a portion of the finds. The evidence of the bog bodies suggests that, during the Iron Age of north-western Europe, it was a common custom to cast executed criminals and sacrificial victims into sacred waters, perhaps to ensure a supply of bog iron, or simply as a gift to the gods.