Questions about Bog Mummies 

Last Updated 08 April 2008

Bog Mummies

QUESTION from Rebecca: I am interested in historical re-enactment, and trying to find information on a Danish bog find that contained a long sleeved leather tunic. Would you be able to point me towards any sources? ANSWER FROM THE MUMMY TOMBS: I have not found any mention of a long-sleeved leather tunic. But I was able to find some information about a long-sleeved textile tunic--much like a sampler, since it was constructed out of 43 pieces of fabric. It was found on Bernuthsfeld Man in 1907 in a German bog. The body may be on display in Emden. Here's a link to a photo of the tunic (not very good, I'm afraid). Here's another example of a long-sleeved bog tunic from Sweden: The Bocksten Tunic. The most comprehensive source about bog clothing is van der Sanden's THROUGH NATURE TO ETERNITY. A calfskin tunic mentioned in this book (p. 125) was found in 1944 at Sogards Mose in Denmark. The book also shows an outline of the Bernuthsfeld Man's tunic (p.128). This book is hard to find, but you might be able to order a used copy through alibris.com or abebooks.com. You might also try Glob's THE BOG PEOPLE, which does give information about bog clothing as well. Don't know if any of this will steer you in the right direction, but I hope it helps.

QUESTION from Dirk:  I am of a German ancestry and have been asked by a Native American medicine man to research my ancient relatives. I have started attending sweat ceremonies with this man and to reach further into myself exploration he has asked me to research this topic. I have found out a lot about the Bog People but nothing is leading me to their beliefs and ceremonies. All that has been mentioned is of sacrifice of both human and objects. I was told to "look to the rocks" but the answers have still not appeared. I have researched in libraries and over the internet and still have found out very little.  ANSWER FROM THE MUMMY TOMBS: Dirk, I would suggest that you find a copy of the book called THE BOG PEOPLE by P.V.Glob. This classic book provides many details about the beliefs of Iron Age people. Hope this helps.

QUESTION from Kate:  I am a narrator for the Library of Congress and am preparing to narrate a book about mummies for children 8-14 years old. There are two (among other) names that I cannot find in our source material. I've read a lot about Yde girl but no where does it give the pronunciation of the word. I'm having the same problem with Grauballe man. I can find neither in the Gazetteer or Geo dictionaries. Can you help?? ANSWER FROM THE MUMMY TOMBS: Kate, Here's the way I've heard the words pronounced in my research. Yde = EE-duh (accenting the long E). Grauballe = Gruh-BALL-uh. I don't speak Dutch or Danish, so these were how the words sounded to my untrained ear. Hope this helps.

QUESTION from Karla:  I'm doing an assignment on Elling Woman for ancient history...and so far I've hardly found any information. Id just like to ask if there's any useful information you could give me, particularly about who found Elling Woman and how she was recovered.  ANSWER FROM THE MUMMY TOMBS: Elling Woman was discovered in 1938 near Silkeborg Denmark in a bog named Bjaeldskovdal. This is the same bog in which Tollund Man was discovered in 1950. Her body was discovered by a man named Jens Zakariassen who had been cutting peat at the time. The block of peat in which her body was encased was sent to the National Museum in Copenhagen, where the body was completely uncovered. After the body was examined, it was stored (during which time it became dehydrated). No attempt was made to treat the body to protect it from deteriorating. The body is now on display at the Silkeborg Museum.

QUESTION from Tony: I am a high school junior and we have a major essay due on one of the bog bodies. I have chosen to do Grauballe Man. The problem is that I have found no information about the question and I was wondering if you could help me. The question is "What can be learnt about the cultural practices and rituals of a specific ancient people from the preserved human remains known as the Bog bodies and other related sources?" I know that Grauballe Man and some other bog bodies were found in Denmark but what about their cultural practices and rituals? If you could please send me some information I would be very grateful. ANSWER FROM THE MUMMY TOMBS: Tony, I can't send you information, but I can point you in the right direction. You won't find a lot of information about Grauballe Man in print, but what there is does point to cultural practices and rituals. You will want to find a copies of P. V. Glob's THE BOG PEOPLE, Don Brothwell's The Bogman and the Archaeology of People, and perhaps my own book Bodies from the Bog. You may even want to look up Tacitus who wrote some interesting reports about the early people of Europe (the same people who helped create--quite accidentally--the bog people). All three books discuss the types of rituals that the early Europeans practiced (which led to the accidental production of bog mummies). Some questions to consider: What gods did these people worship? How did they demonstrate their faith? What ceremonies did they perform? This should get you started.

QUESTION from Eileen: I have a little information about the bog jacket found about 2,000 years ago, in Denmark(?). Where could I find information about this item as I am making a bog jacket and want to know the history of it and what it was made of, animal skins or something else. ANSWER FROM THE MUMMY TOMBS: Rebecca has written me to explain that the jacket you are referring to is derived from the top of the Egtved Girl and has an open seam running down the front. You can see the original here and a modified version here. Rebecca continues: "I have only seen it mentioned in handicraft and weaving books, so when I first heard about a 'bog jacket' I was confused as well, as there was nothing in my science/archaeology notes that was a jacket. It is popular for weavers because once you have spent so much time weaving a piece of fabric, it is generally accepted you want to waste as little of it as possible, with as few cuts as possible (as loosely woven fabric would fray more and therefore be difficult to sew I assume). Therefore, there is a trend for cutting simple, rectangular garments with little shaping." Thank you, Rebecca.

QUESTION from Nick: Some of my friends and I are doing a project for science class on fossils. We have decided to do our project on bog mummies. We've practically searched everywhere on the Internet and need some help on what books to chose for research. We need to know the importance of bog mummies and why scientists look for them. Also if you have any good  references we'd appreciate it. Thank you so much for taking the time to answer this question! ANSWER FROM THE MUMMY TOMBS: The Internet doesn't always provide complete answers; books almost always do. Check out this URL which will show you the titles of some books about bog bodies.

QUESTION from Jody: I am a senior in high school. My research topic for my British literature class is what is found in bogs that preserved ancient beings so well. I need to know all the "little stuff." Can you help me? ANSWER FROM THE MUMMY TOMBS: The answer to your question is long enough that I can't write it all in an e-mail. Briefly, the bog has is full of sphagnum moss which prevents the growth of microbes in the bog. No microbes = no rot--and so the body remains more or less intact. In addition, bog water also contains tannins--which tan the person's skin and turn it to leather. But scientists are still studying bogs to figure out the entire process. This is the info in a nutshell. I strongly recommend that you find a copy of my book Bodies from the Bog (your local public library should have it--or could get it on interlibrary loan) and read chapter 3. It (and the rest of the book) are filled with the "small stuff"--that is, the interesting details (plus photos). 

QUESTION from Gretchen: My son has brought your books home from the school library and I was fascinated and delighted by them. Do you know how to make a Swabian knot [shown in Bodies from the Bog]? ANSWER FROM THE MUMMY TOMBS: I've checked all of my reference books and I can't find any directions for the Swabian knot. I've found other knotting directions (for a long twisted braid in a bog body called Elling Woman)...but that's a different story. All I can tell you is this: Osterby Man had hair about 11-12 inches long when it was knotted. My wife and I have tried to replicate it on our daughters. If the Swabian knot is a figure-8 twist, it looks as if you should start the twist with the bottom right part of the figure-8, loop it around to the bottom-left and up to the top-right, then top-left --bringing what's left under the center of the figure-8 and then tucking the end into the middle of the top figure-8. I don't know if that makes sense--but try it. We couldn't make the twist stay put (but we may have twisted it too much). You might try a lot of gel, too (or try not washing the hair for a year or two). Hope this helps. (If you succeed and you want to write up some directions and provide a few photos, I'll be happy to post it on my website.)

REPLY from Gretchen: I have very long hair and I was intrigued by the idea of a nice knot that would stay up (for 2,000 years) without pins. I have not been able to duplicate it yet but from experience I can add that hair that hasn't been washed with soap for a while will hold a knot much better. Something I discovered in my Internet research was that the knot looks like a triskele, a recurring image in Celtic art. It seems to have been worn mostly by warriors. Your wonderful books have led me on a fascinating personal Internet research project. I have been able to find translated texts of Tacitus's writings and other great reference sites. I am entertaining the idea of getting you here for multiple school lectures, possibly next year. ANSWER FROM THE MUMMY TOMBS: I'm happy to hear that my books have led to your research. Isn't research one of the best things in life? You can find out so many things (that are simply there to be discovered). You will find so many books on Celtic art (filled with great photographs--and don't forget the Ürümchi mummies, which are related in strange and wonderful ways to the Celts...you should read the book by Elizabeth Wayland Barber.) Of course I'd be happy to visit your school district whenever. But if you do succeed in the Swabian knot, please let me know. You've probably seen what I've done to commemorate the chicken mummy. I'd be just as happy to do the same for the Swabian knot. Best of luck with all future research!

QUESTION from Steven: I am studying prehistoric religion at the University of Lund in Sweden. I wonder if you could tell me where I might find the most recent literature that deals with the technical analyses of the stomach contents of the various bog bodies. ANSWER FROM THE MUMMY TOMBS: The best general source I can recommend is Wijnand van der Sanden's book Through Nature to Eternity. Chapter 8 is entitled "The Last Meal" and discusses intestinal contents and their analysis.

QUESTION from Susan: Do you have information about the bog mummies of Ireland? I teach a High School class that has shown interest in this subject. Any information you could offer or forward would be helpful. ANSWER FROM THE MUMMY TOMBS: One of the problems with bog bodies is that there isn't much information on the general subject. So if you want more information about the bog bodies of any particular country...you run into an info shortage. More information exists about bog bodies in Denmark, Germany, and the Netherlands than Ireland (I have yet to find a book that concentrates on Irish bog finds--even though the country has a huge amount of bog land). If you haven't seen my book Bodies from the Bog, you will want to look it over (Ireland is included). If you want something more scholarly, look for R. C. Turner and R. G. Scaife's Bog Bodies: New Discoveries and New Perspectives (London: British Museum, 1995--only b&w photos, lots of text) or Wijnand van der Sanden's Through Nature to Eternity: The Bog Bodies of Northwest Europe (Amsterdam: Batavian Lion International, 1996--many color photos, lots of text--the best book on the subject).

QUESTION from M: I've heard scientists know how to tell what bog  people ate - how is this possible? ANSWER FROM THE MUMMY TOMBS: If the bog body is in good condition, scientists can use an endoscopic tube and enter the stomach and/or intestines to retrieve whatever food remains there. Once this has been extracted, they can analyze this. I describe the findings of Grauballe Man's stomach analysis in much more detail in Bodies from the Bog. Unfortunately, only 12 bodies found in the last 100 years or so have had this analysis done (most bodies were found long enough ago that they are no longer well enough preserved to have this analysis).

QUESTION from L: How old is the oldest body to ever be found in a bog? ANSWER FROM THE MUMMY TOMBS: Not an easy question, because (1) such poor records have been kept, (2) all "bodies" are not the same (some are mummified, others are skeletons--the skeletons are often much older than the mummies), and (3) radiocarbon dating has not been done on most of the bog bodies ever discovered. With that in mind (there is no real definitive answer), the oldest bog skeleton appears to be Koelbjerg Woman (Denmark--test results indicate that she died about 10,000 years ago). Perhaps the oldest bog mummy is Emmer-Erfscheidenveen Man (from the Netherlands-- though he's more of a skeleton than a body), who died about 3200 years ago, more or less. It appears that the best preserved oldest bog mummy is (or was) Borremose Man (Denmark--but he may not be well-preserved these days-- he's not on exhibit anywhere and may be in "deep storage"); he died about 2700 years ago.