Mummies, Disease and Ancient Cultures
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Bog bodies are usually considered a northwest European phenomenon reflecting specific forms of sacrifice or punishment common among the Germanic peoples around the time of the birth of Christ, but recent discoveries and information about old obscure finds from Holland and the British Isles indicate that similar practices were observed there. Dieck (1965) noted that there were more than 1400 reported bog finds worldwide, a large percentage of them only body parts, varying in date from 9000 BC to World War II, but his data are now considered unreliable. A recent, thorough study has an estimate of 122 bodies that can be accounted for (van der Sanden 1996). Apart from giving possible explanations of the legal and religious structures of society, bog bodies offer a unique chance of getting to know Iron Age Man, his life conditions, illnesses, fashions in dress and hair styles, and the awareness that Iron Age Man, had he been dressed in modern clothes, would look no different than we do today.
The occurrence of bog bodies is widespread geographically and chronologically (Lund 1976). Most of the Danish finds that have been dated by scientific methods (Tauber 1956, 1979) or by accompanying objects are, with very few exceptions, from 500 BC until the birth of Christ, a period that in Danish archaeological terminology is referred to as the pre-Roman Iron Age.
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