No mercy
But many deaths remain shrouded in mystery.
Peter Lindberg via Wikimedia Commons
Due to their unique environment, peat bogs naturally preserve human remains and keep them in remarkable shape for hundreds to thousands of years.
Experts estimate that at least 2,000 bog mummies and skeletons are known today — and many more are probably still buried.
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But how did so many individuals end up in bogs in the first place?
Drents Museum via Wikimedia Commons
For the study, researchers collected data on the causes of death, demographics, and frequency of bog remains over 10,900 years in Europe.
But the vast majority on record date between 1000 B.C. and 1100 A.D.
Nationalmuseet via Wikimedia Commons
Of the bodies with discernable causes of death, many died during that time from violent causes — be it stabbings, decapitations, blows to the head, or a combination of actions.
Nationalmuseet via Wikimedia Commons
Those gruesome trends continued in more recent years.
Sven Rosborn via Wikimedia Commons
However, there were also many suicides and accidental deaths in the bogs, showing that it wasn’t only deadly conflict that sent people to their graves.
Sven Rosborn via Wikimedia Commons
And the vast majority of remains did not reveal a clear cause of death — leaving even more questions to be answered about how they perished.