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BOOKS ABOUT BOG MUMMIES

Bodies from the Bog 

by James M. Deem

 

Bodies from the Bog by James M. Deem presents the known facts about bog bodies and bog objects discovered during the last four thousand years. James M. Deem shows who the bog people were, how they lived, what they believed, and what the future holds for them hundreds and even thousands of years after their deaths. He also explains the mysterious nature of peat bogs that allows bodies to be preserved. Illustrated in color and black-and-white  with 40 photographs. 48 pages. For ages 8 to adult. Published by Houghton Mifflin. 

A 1999 Notable Book for Children, American Library Association (selected for originality, creativity and suitability for children). Selected as one of the Best Children's Books of 1998, School Library Journal (only 61 books selected from the almost 3800 children's books reviewed in 1998 by SLJ). Selected as one of the Top 100 Children's Books of 1998, Bulletin for the Center of Children's Books. Selected as one of the Quick Picks for Reluctant Young Adult Readers 1999, Young Adult Library Services Association, a division of the American Library Association.

 

Contents

 

Chapter 1. 

The Grauballe Man, a bog mummy discovered in Denmark in 1952, 4 photos of his discovery.

Chapter 2.

The Porsmose Man, a bog skeleton discovered in Denmark in 1946, 1 photo. He was killed by arrows. The photograph in the book shows his skull and an arrowhead that pierced his nasal cavity. The arrow that killed him, however, penetrated his aorta.

The Borremose Man, a bog mummy discovered in Denmark in 1946, 1 photograph.

The Osterby Head, a bog skull discovered in Germany in 1948, 1 photograph. Known for its Swabian-knot hairstyle.

The Tollund Man, a bog mummy discovered in Denmark in 1952, 2 photos. Perhaps the most famous of all bog bodies.

The Zweeloo Woman, a bog skeleton (with skin and intestines) discovered in the Netherlands in 1951, 2 photographs.

The Windeby Girl, a bog mummy discovered in Germany in 1952, 1 photo. Half of her head had been shaved and she had been blindfolded.

Chapter 3.

The Emmer-Erfscheidenveen Man, a bog mummy discovered in Germany.

Chapter 4.

The Gundestrup Cauldron, a cauldron most likely used in sacrificial rituals, discovered in Denmark in 1891, 2 photographs.

The Dejbjerg Wagons, two unusual wagons most likely used in sacrificial rituals, discovered in Denmark in the 1880s, 1 photograph.

The Weerdinge Men, two bog mummies discovered in the Netherlands in 1904, 1 photograph. One was found with its intestines on its abdomen: a possible sacrifice?

The Caergwrle Bowl, a carved stone bowl, in the shape of a boat, discovered in Wales in the 1820s, 1 photograph. Probably offered to the gods as thanks.

The Clonmacnoise Collar, a stunning golden torc or collar discovered in an Irish bog, 1 photograph. Another offering made to the gods.

Chapter 5.

The Lindow Man, a bog mummy discovered in England in 1983, 2 photographs. One of the most recent discoveries, now on display in the British Museum.

The Meenybradden Woman, a bog mummy recently discovered in Ireland, 1 photograph. Her cloak has caused a small controversy.

The Borremose Woman, a bog mummy discovered in Denmark in 1848, 1 photograph. She was the victim of considerable violence.

The Dätgen Man, a bog body and skull discovered in Germany, 2 photographs. His head had been detached and buried near the body.

The Yde Girl, a bog mummy discovered in the Netherlands in1897, 2 photographs including her face as reconstructed by an artist. The bog dredger who discovered her thought she was the Devil, because she appeared to have red hair.

Chapter 6.

The Tollund Man, another photograph showing his permanent resting place in the Silkeborg Museum in Silkeborg, Denmark.

The Windeby Girl, another photograph showing her permanent resting place in the Landesmuseum in Schleswig, Germany

The Grauballe Man, another photograph showing his permanent resting place in the Moesgård Museum of Prehistory near Aarhus, Denmark.

 

 

Excerpt from Chapter 1

"On the last Saturday of April 1952, near the village of Grauballe, Denmark, a group of men were digging in a raised bog they had  partially drained. They dug past the upper layer of peat moss into a rich layer of compact dark-brown peat perfect for fuel, their shovels slicing brick-sized chunks. They stacked the peat  on the surface. When it had dried, it would be burned for heat in a fireplace or furnace.

"That afternoon, though, the men made an unexpected discovery. About three feet below the surface their shovels struck the head of a dead man. His eyes were closed, his face partially flattened by the weight of the peat. His skin was as brown as the earth that surrounded him. The peat cutters quickly reported their find to a local doctor who wondered if it might not be a bog body, that is, a type of natural mummy: the preserved body of a person who was buried in the bog perhaps thousands of years ago. A number of such bodies had been found in Denmark, so the doctor called an archaeologist at the Moesgård Museum of Prehistory in nearby Aarhus.

"The next morning Professor P. V. Glob arrived at the site and examined the body of what has come to be called the Grauballe Man...."

 

Copyright © 1998 by James M. Deem. This excerpt is taken from Bodies from the Bog (Houghton Mifflin, 1998).

 

 

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