Bodies from the Bog
Bodies from the Bog by James M. Deem. © 1998 Houghton Mifflin Company. ISBN 0-395-85784-8. Paperback. Children’s/Archaeology. 42 pages. $7.99 US. [ Purchase ] Source: local library
Bodies from the Bog opens up with the discovery of The Grauballe Man from Denmark in 1952. While the book focused mainly on bog bodies discovered on the continent, insular discoveries were mentioned as well.
Along with discussing the bodies themselves, in Chapter 3 we are also told about the life cycle of a bog and why these play such an important role in the preservation of these people. Of how a bog is born from sphagnum moss growing on layers of fen peat. This is what plays a pivotal role in the creation of bog bodies.
While fen peat alone allows for the growth of bacteria, and the eventual decay of human remains, sphagnan (a substance found in sphagnum moss) prevents the development of bacteria. It is sphagnan which preserves human remains, and even wood and leather objects from thousands of year ago, however, materials made from plants (i.e., linen) will decay. This is the reason bog bodies are most often nude, their clothes have deteriorated. It is also sphagnan which turns the bodies tan and leathery. So bodies become skeletal remains from fen peat and mummies from bog peat. Another topic covered briefly, and I do mean briefly, in this chapter is how special the meeting of land and water was to the ancient of Europe.
Chapter 4 discusses non-human artifacts pulled from bogs. This includes The Gundestrup Cauldron from Denmark, The Dejbjerg Wagons from Denmark, The Caergwrle Bowl from Wales, La Tène torques and other ornaments from all around Northern Europe, and the Flag Fen offering site from England.
Chapter 5 tackles the puzzles that scientists face when researching bog bodies. Who are these people? Were they victims of sacrifice? From what period is it from? Where they killed at a certain time of year? What was their cause of death? The rest of the book is concerned with the diminishing bogs on the continent where peat farming has been stopped. But it also addresses the concern in Ireland and England where farming is now largely mechanical, leaving the possibility of finding more bog bodies in the lesser percentile as no human eyes are required for farming and the machines would chop up any bodies it found.
Quite a lot of information is packed into this 42-page volume. I found it very easy to read and very edifying. However, the photos, while needed to accompany such a topic, are a bit shocking so I don’t recommend showing this to any children under 11 or 12-years old.
Rating: 4 ½ bogs out of 5
About the Author
James M. Deem lives in Scottsdale, Arizona, with his family. He is the author of numerous works of both fiction and nonfiction for children.
