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Ancient Origins Tour IRAQ

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bog body

The cranial remains of Vittrup Man, who ended up in a bog after his skull had been crushed by at least eight heavy blows. Source: Stephen Freiheit / Fischer et al., 2024, PLOS ONE / CC-BY 4.0

Research Reveals Complex Life of the Vittrup Man’s Danish Bog Body

An international team of scientists recently completed a comprehensive analysis of the remains of a body extracted from a peat bog in Denmark. Using DNA testing, plus various types of chemical...
The face of the bog body known as Grauballe man. Source: Public domain

Grauballe Man: Ritual Sacrifice? Justice Dealt? Or a 2,300-Year-Old Murder Mystery?

Of the many ancient remains found preserved in bogs and marshes, perhaps the most interesting is the Grauballe Man. Discovered in a peat bog in Jutland, Denmark in 1952, experts believe that the man...
Close up of Old Croghan Man’s nails (National Museum of Ireland)

Why Does This Ancient Corpse Have a Manicure? (Video)

In central Ireland, beneath the looming presence of Croghan Hill, lies a mystery shrouded in history. Known simply as the Old Croghan Man , his true name remains a riddle lost to time. Archaeologists...
Archaeologist Lea Mohr Hansen cleans animal bones found together with the human skeleton.          Source: Christian Dedenroth-Schou/ ROMU

Exciting Find of a Neolithic Bog Body in Denmark

For the second time since 1947, a human skeleton has been found in the Egedal Municipality in Denmark – in fact, the remaining fragments of a ‘bog body’. Initially just a femur, a lower jaw with some...
10,500-year-old cremated bog bones were found in northern Germany. Source: ALSH

10,500-year-old Bones Found in Bog are Germany’s Oldest Human Remains

Archaeologists digging at a Stone Age campsite in northern Germany have found 10,500-year-old cremated human bones. These Mesolithic era ‘bog bones’ are the oldest human remains found so far in...
One of the Frankenstein mummies found at Cladh Hallan in Scotland. Source: Mike Parker Pearson / University College London

Why Did Ancient Scots Prepare ‘Frankenstein’ Mummies?

In 2001, a team of archaeologists found a pair of skeletons at an archaeological site on the island of South Uist off the coast of Scotland. At first, it appeared to be a typical Bronze Age discovery...
Iron Age bog body known today as Old Croghan Man and housed in the National Museum of Ireland. Source: Mark Healey / CC BY-SA 2.0

Unravelling the Story Behind the Old Croghan Man’s Bog Body

Old Croghan Man is the name given to a well-preserved Iron Age bog body that was discovered in County Offaly, Ireland. The bog body derives its name from Croghan Hill , which is situated not far from...
The well-preserved head of the Tollund Man. Source: A. Mikkelsen / Antiquity Publications Ltd

The Tollund Man Spills His Guts: New Analysis of Bog Body’s Last Meal

There has long been an obsession with final-menu fantasies, as evidenced by the amount of literature dedicated to last meals on death row in the United States. Now, researchers in Denmark have...
Clonycavan Man

Clonycavan Man: A 2,300-Year-Old Murder Mystery

In March 2003, the body of a man who lived during the Iron Age was discovered in a peat bog in Ireland. Known as the Clonycavan Man, the well-preserved remains indicate that the body was not that of...
Close up of Lindow Man.      Source: Verity / CC BY-SA 2.0.

Lindow Man – What Killed England’s Oldest Celebrity?

Lindow Man, officially known as Lindow II, is the name given to a bog body that was discovered in Cheshire, North West England. Radiocarbon dating of Lindow Man shows that he lived around the 1st...
Bocksten Man. Photo source: (CC BY 2.0 ) The Tollund Man as he appears today. (Tollundman.dk) Osterby Man with hair tied in a Suebian Knot. At Archäologisches Landesmuseum. (CC BY 3.0) The face of the bog body known as Grauballe man. (Public Domain) The Upper body of the Elling Woman. (CC BY SA 3.0)

The Stories Behind Seven Mind Boggling Bog Bodies

Since at least the 18th century, there have been discoveries in northwestern continental Europe and Britain of “bog bodies” - human remains which have been preserved in the anoxic environment of bogs...
Representative image of a cloaked druid in a forest.

Stories of the Druids Abound, But What is the Hard Archaeological Evidence?

Druid comes from the Old Irish word druí meaning sorcerer. And that is how most people today think of the druids, as mysterious wizards enveloped in the world of magic and ritual. But there is much...
Osterby Man Still Has a Great Hairdo Nearly 2,000 Years On!

Osterby Man Still Has a Great Hairdo Nearly 2,000 Years On!

Since at least the 18th century AD, there have been discoveries in northwestern continental Europe and Britain of “bog bodies” - human remains which have been preserved in the anoxic environment of...
A 700-Year-Old Murder Mystery: Who Bludgeoned the Bocksten Man to Death and Why?

A 700-Year-Old Murder Mystery: Who Bludgeoned the Bocksten Man to Death and Why?

Around 700 years ago, a young man, who has come to be known as ‘Bocksten Man’, was struck three times on the head, then tossed into a peat bog and impaled with three wooden poles to prevent his body...
The Moora Mystery: What Happened When a Girl Stepped into the Moor 2,500 Years Ago?

The Moora Mystery: What Happened When a Girl Stepped into the Moor 2,500 Years Ago?

Back in 2000, peat harvesters near Uchte, Germany thought they had unearthed a buried tragedy. Mangled inside of the blades of a peat harvesting machine were pieces of human bone and tissue. They...
From the Gisla Saga: When Eyjólfur and his men attacked Gísli in overwhelming numbers, Gísli’s wife Auður stood by his side, armed with a club.

Gunnhild, A Misidentified Bog Body and the Mother of Kings in Norse Sagas

Gunnhild, known also as Gunnhild Gormsdóttir or Gunnhild konungamóðir (meaning ‘mother of kings’), is a character who is found in a number of Norse sagas. In these stories, Gunnhild is depicted as...
Gunnhild, A Misidentified Bog Body and the Mother of Kings in Norse Sagas

Gunnhild, A Misidentified Bog Body and the Mother of Kings in Norse Sagas

Gunnhild, known also as Gunnhild Gormsdóttir or Gunnhild konungamóðir (meaning ‘mother of kings’), is a character who is found in a number of Norse sagas. In these stories, Gunnhild is depicted as...
Ancient bog body found in Ireland

Ancient bog body found in Ireland may be Iron Age sacrifice

Archaeologists in Ireland made an amazing discovery this week when they unearthed another ancient bog body in County Meath, adding to the collection of ancient human remains, some incredibly well-...
Tollund Man

Tollund Man – the preserved face from Prehistoric Denmark and the tale of ritual sacrifice

Tollund Man is the naturally mummified body of a man who lived during the 4th century BC, during the period characterised in Scandinavia as the Pre-Roman Iron Age. He was hanged as a sacrifice to the...