Bodies From the Past The Bog People The Bog People

Have you ever seen a pond that is so full of brown muck that it looks thick, like soup? That is how a bog begins – moss and other plants decay in a pond or lake for centuries until the water dries up. What is left is called peat.

People would dig up the peat, dry it out and use it for fuel. Because the peat contained a lot of acid, but no oxygen, bodies were preserved like leather. The carbon would turn the bodies black.

The Tollund Man

On May 8, 1950 diggers found a body seven feet in the ground. It was so well preserved that they contacted the local police, thinking that the person had just been murdered.

The local police contacted Professor Glob who had the body dug out and taken quickly to the National Museum of Copenhagen.

After the body was taken to the Copenhagen Museum, it was concluded that the body was about 2,000 years old.

The Tollund Man, he was named this after the bog where he was found, was naked except for a leather hat, a belt and a rope around his neck.

Still in his stomach were the remains of his last meal of spring grains and flower seeds. That strange meal and the man’s peaceful expression led researchers to believe that he had been sacrificed.

The Tollund Man is on display at the National Museum in Denmark.

The Lindow Man

The most recently discovered bog mummy was discovered in Cheshire, England and is called the Lindow Man.

He was not as well preserved as the Tollund Man, having been accidently cut in half by peat diggers and his face was squashed.

Can you locate the fingernail on his chest?

The Lindow Man’s body is on display at the British Museum in London.

Scientists believe this is what the Lindow man looked like when he was alive.

The Grauballe Man

In 1952, Professor Glob studied another bog body – the Grauballe Man.

This body was found in the Grauballe bog.

This find was dramatic because his throat had been cut from ear to ear.

His fingernails were very well kept, showing he had not done manual work. Perhaps he was a chief.

The Grauballe Man is on display at the Aarhus Museum in Denmark.

This is what they think the Grauballe Man would have looked like when he was alive.