How old are the peat bog mummies?
between 5,000 and 8,000 years ago
These skeletons are the remains of people buried in peat between 5,000 and 8,000 years ago, during the Early and Middle Archaic period in the Americas.
How are bodies preserved in peat bogs?
The best-preserved bodies were all found in raised bogs, which form in basins where poor drainage leaves the ground waterlogged and slows plant decay. Over thousands of years, layers of sphagnum moss accumulate, eventually forming a dome fed entirely by rainwater.
What do we learn from bog bodies?
In addition to the manner of their death, some bog bodies also contain valuable information about their lives and the societies they came from. Because the bogs preserve not only skin, but also internal organs and sometimes even clothes, archaeologists have a wealth of material to analyze.
How long does it take for a bog body to mummify?
70 days
Probably the most famous type of mummification is the Egyptian process, a ritual that took 70 days.
Where was peat bog found?
A vast peatland has been discovered in a remote part of Congo-Brazzaville. The bog covers an area the size of England and is thought to contain billions of tonnes of peat. Scientists say investigating the carbon-rich material could shed light on 10,000 years of environmental change in this little-studied region.
Where are bog mummies found?
Bog bodies, or bog people, are the naturally preserved corpses of humans and some animals recovered from peat bogs. The bodies have been most commonly found in the Northern European countries of Denmark, Germany, The Netherlands, the United Kingdom and Ireland.
Why are peat bogs important?
Peat, sometimes called “peat moss,” increases soil’s ability to retain water. Bogs are ecologically important because they absorb great amounts of precipitation. They prevent flooding and absorb runoff. Sphagnum moss, reeds, sedges, and heather are common bog plants.
What is a peat bog used for?
Peat bogs store vast amounts of carbon, which must kept in the ground to avoid contributing to climate change. A loss of only 5% of UK peatland carbon would be equal to the UK’s annual greenhouse gas emissions. Peat bogs also act like a sponge, soaking up rainwater, and can help to reduce flood risk.
What lives in a peat bog?
Bog plants and insects support a wide variety of other organisms. Amphibians, such as frogs, salamanders, and newts, thrive in insect-rich bogs. Threatened species of cranes nest in bogs and peatlands in North America and Siberia.
How deep is a peat bog?
Under these conditions, bog mosses and other bog plants break down very slowly to gradually form a layer of peat. Peat depth varies from 50cm to 3m on average, but depths of up to 8m aren’t uncommon.
What animals live in peat bogs?
Mammals like the snowshoe hare, moose, beaver, and muskrats are also found in and around bogs. And on a gruesome note: Preserved bodies are sometimes found in bogs! Because decomposition happens so slowly, anything that falls into a bog, including animals and people, can be preserved for long periods of time!
What are peat bogs used for?
What type of animals live in bogs?
What do peat bogs do?
Peat, sometimes called “peat moss,” increases soil’s ability to retain water. Bogs are ecologically important because they absorb great amounts of precipitation. They prevent flooding and absorb runoff.
What is peat bog used for?
What do bog mummies reveal about their identity?
Ancient Bog Mummies Reveal Secrets of their Identity. Known as “bog bodies”, most date to the Iron Age, between 800 BC and 200 AD, and show a remarkable degree of preservation thanks to the acidic, oxygen-poor conditions of peat bogs, which are made up of accumulated layers of dead moss. No one knows for sure who these people were…
What can we learn from mummified bodies of the peatlands?
Many mummified peat bodies show amazing preservation, and the clues that accompany the mummies often reveal grim circumstances. The following are some of the most intriguing and mysterious bodies of the peatlands. Bog bodies are well-preserved due to anaerobic and acid conditions of peatlands in Europe.
Where did the bog bodies come from?
But new clues are coming in the centuries-old mystery of their origins. Over 500 Iron Age bog bodies and skeletons dating to between 800 B.C. and A.D. 200 have been discovered in Denmark alone, with more unearthed in Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Ireland. ( Read “Tales From the Bog” in National Geographic magazine .)
What did bog bodies eat?
Many bog bodies are so well preserved scientists can tell what they ate for their last meal. Most had cereals (such as wheat or rye) or bread, and a few had meat. The hair on most bog bodies is red.