Ok, back again with Part II about The Bogman (or just Bogs). In the future I will just leave a short bit of info & leave the links if people want more info. Enjoy! Part II A bog body is a human cadaver that has been naturally mummified within a peat bog. Such bodies, sometimes known as bog people, are both geographically and chronologically widespread, having been dated to between 8000 BCE and the Second World War. The unifying factor of the bog bodies is that they have been found in peat and are partially preserved; however, the actual levels of preservation vary widely from perfectly preserved to mere skeletons. Unlike most ancient human remains, bog bodies have retained their skin and internal organs due to the unusual conditions of the surrounding area. These conditions include highly acidic water, low temperature, and a lack of oxygen, and combine to preserve but severely tan their skin. While the skin is well-preserved, the bones are generally not, due to the acid in the peat having dissolved the calcium phosphate of bone. The overwhelming majority of bog bodies – date to the Iron Age and have been found in Northern European lands, particularly Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Ireland. Such Iron Age bog bodies typically illustrate a number of similarities, such as violent deaths and a lack of clothing, leading archaeologists to believe that they were killed and deposited in the bogs as a part of a widespread cultural tradition of human sacrifice or the execution of criminals. The newest bog bodies are those of soldiers killed in the Russian wetlands during the Second World War. Around 3900 BCE (a really long time ago), agriculture was introduced to Denmark, either through cultural exchange or by migrating farmers, marking the beginning of the Neolithic in the region. It was during the early part of this Neolithic period that a number of human corpses that were interred within the areas peat bogs left evidence that implies that they did not do so voluntarily. A disproportionate number of the Early Neolithic bodies found in Danish bogs were aged between 16 and 20 at the time of their death, with suggestions being put forward that they were either human sacrifices or criminals executed for their socially deviant behavior. The vast majority of the bog bodies that have been discovered date from the Iron Age, a period of time when the peat bogs covered a much larger area of northern Europe than they do currently. Many of these Iron Age bodies bear a number of similarities, indicating a known cultural tradition of killing and depositing these people in a certain manner. These Pre-Roman Iron Age peoples lived in sedentary communities, who had built villages, and whose society was hierarchical. Although independent of the Roman Empire, which dominated southern Europe at this time, the inhabitants traded with the Romans. For these people, the bogs held some sort of two fold significance, and indeed, they placed into them votive offerings (one or more objects displayed or deposited, without the intention of recovery or use, in a sacred place for broadly religious purposes) intended for the Other world, often of neck-rings, wristlets or ankle-rings made of bronze or more rarely gold. The archaeologist P.V. Glob believed that these were offerings to the gods of fertility and good fortune. It is therefore widely speculated that the Iron Age bog bodies were thrown into the bog for similar reasons, and that they were therefore examples of human sacrifice to the gods. Many bog bodies show signs of being stabbed, bludgeoned, hanged or strangled, or a combination of these methods. In some cases the individual had been beheaded. Some bodies show signs of torture, such as Old Croghan Man, who had deep cuts beneath his nipples. Some of the bog bodies seem consistently to have been members of the upper class: their fingernails are manicured, and tests on hair protein routinely record good nutrition.It is recorded that the Celts practiced auguries (art, practice of divination from omens or signs) on the entrails of human victims: on some bog bodies, such as one of the Weerdinge Men found in northern Netherlands, the entrails have been partly drawn out through incisions. Ever SINCE the IRON AGE, HUMANS HAVE USED THE BOGS TO HARVEST PEAT, A COMMEN FUEL SOURSE On various occasions throughout history, peat diggers have come across bog bodies. Records of such finds go back as far as the 17th century. Hundreds of bog bodies have been recovered and studied. The bodies have been most commonly found in the Northern European countries of Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Ireland. Several bog bodies are notable for the high quality of their preservation and the substantial research by archaeologists and forensic scientists. These include: >>en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bog_body#cite_note-18
Posted on: Fri, 23 Jan 2015 20:39:24 +0000
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