New insights from forgotten bog bodies: The potential of bog skeletons for investigating the phenomenon of deposition of human remains in bogs during prehistory

Abstract

Since the 18 th century, the peat bogs of Northern Europe have yielded the remains of hundreds of people dating from as far back as c. 8.000 BC. While the individuals with preserved soft tissue have been subjected to numerous and comprehensive studies, the less famous bog skeletons have received much less attention, even though the distinction is essentially attributable solely to differences in preservation conditions. The objective of this study is to fill this gap by providing valuable information on ten bog skeletons from the small region of Vesthimmerland in northwest Denmark. The large majority (nine out of ten) of these finds are previously unpublished. We.apply a cross-disciplinary approach consisting of osteological and paleopathological investigations combined with radiocarbon and strontium isotope analyses. Our radiocarbon results show that two of the ten bog skeletons (two adult females) date to the Nordic Neolithic Age, one 8-year old child dates to the Nordic Bronze Age, while the majority are from the Pre-Roman Iron Age and Roman Iron Age (one child, four adult females and two adult males). Anthropological examination suggested no evidence of peri-mortem violence, but the finding of gross pathologies in two individuals could hint at deliberate deposition in the bog. Nine individuals yielded strontium isotopic values suggesting a local origin, whereas a female dating to the Pre- Roman Iron Age yielded highly radiogenic signatures suggesting a non-local origin. These results represent the first cross-disciplinary study of numerous bog skeletons adding much needed information to a neglected group of individuals, shedding new light on the different theories for the deposition of human remains in bogs in prehistoric times.