The Bog Bodies at the Schleswig-Holstein Landesmuseum
THOUSANDS OF YEARS AGO, UNFORTUNATE souls met unusually grisly deaths in peat-drenched bogs, often condemned for some unknown sins or used as sacrifices. These bodies’ gruesome ends kept them uniquely well-preserved: scientists can determine diet, method of death, age, and even hair color of these so-called “bog bodies”. Landesmuseum The Landes museum in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany has five of these bodies and one bodiless head in its permanent collection. Some of the museum ’s holdings include the following bodies: Windeby I and II. In 1952, near the museum itself, workers cutting peat to sell for fuel found two well-preserved bodies. The first was a young male, nearly-intact, who died around the 1st century A.D. Despite speculations that he was murdered, later scholars decided it was more likely that he died of malnutrition or illness. The “blindfold” around his eyes were probably used to cover his eyes after death, not as some sort of pirate-esque plank w...