Exhibit of Bog Mummies Delves Into Early, Grisly History of European Life
A 2000-year-old bog mummie called "Yde Girl" with the remains of the cord used to kill her around her neck.
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PITTSBURGH (AP) - The seven mummies on display at the Carnegie Museum
of Natural History are nowhere near as famous as King Tut, but they're
just as intriguing.
Take the 2,000-year-old body of a teenager, found in the Netherlands. Who was she? Who killed her and why?
The remains of a cord used to strangle Yde Girl are still visible
around her neck a century after she was found in a peat bog. Was the
killing punishment, or ritual?
The exhibit, The Mysterious Bog People, makes the case for
ritualistic sacrifice as it delves into the early history of
northwestern European life around bogs through archaeology and forensic
sleuthing befitting a CSI episode.
In fact, part of the exhibit allows visitors to investigate four hypothetical bog bodies.
Visitors can examine fake bones, skull and teeth to determine the
gender and likely age, the manner of death and the era in which the
person lived. Examining the stomach contents will even show whether the
victim was a hunter-gatherer or a farmer.
Peat bogs are marshy areas of dead vegetation and sphagnum moss. The
water's high iron content, tannic acid and lack of oxygen act as a
preservative. Remarkably well-preserved bodies have been found in bogs,
many by bog cutters who harvest peat bog for fuel, although nowadays
machines are used more often and bodies are sometimes damaged, said
Sandra Olsen, the museum's curator of anthropology.
A picture of one mummy, not on display, shows perhaps the best
preserved body. Tollund Man, named for the place he was found in
Denmark 55 years ago, has silver-grey skin and seems as though he was
carved from pencil lead. Stubble sprouts from his chin.
The bodies on display are among several dozen known specimens. They
are dried out because proper steps weren't taken to keep them
preserved, so they look leathery.
But they still intrigue.
Red Franz has red hair, a beard and a gaping slit across his neck.
Two mummies, believed to be about 2,000 years old, are displayed
together, as they were found. They were initially presumed to be a man
and a woman, but it's since been determined they are both males. One
has a hole in his chest.
"I think that maybe people are only interested in the grisly aspect,
but I hope that people will have a better understanding of ancient
Europeans," Olsen said.
Scientists have determined diet and health of bog people from
stomach contents and soft tissue analysis - far more than can be
learned from skeletal remains.
Though some bog people were likely murder victims or criminals, the
exhibit argues the abundance of other items found buried in bogs makes
it likely that many were sacrificed. More than 300 such items,
including coins, jewelry, ceremonial musical instruments and weaponry,
are on display.
Ancient Europeans made offerings to their gods in natural settings,
Olsen said. Watery places such as rivers, lakes and bogs were seen as
conduits to the gods, she said.
"The bogs are considered special places because there's an aura of
danger there," Olsen said. It's easy to imagine getting lost or
drowning in dark, fog-covered bogs, which were believed to be inhabited
by the gods.
Offerings would have been made to appease gods so livestock and
crops would thrive and for fertility, Olsen said. They would also be
made to keep gods from becoming angry and delivering famine, drought or
other devastation.
The exhibit will run at the Carnegie until Jan. 23, 2006, and later travels to Los Angeles.