Name given to the human bodies found in peat bogs in Scandinavia and northern Europe, including more than 160 from Denmark. They are renowned for the remarkable preservation of the bodies caused by the chemicals in the peat, which has allowed archaeologists to study aspects of past life usually lost, including the soft tissues of the bodies themselves and the contents of the stomachs. Most of the bodies apparently date to the first few centuries of the present era and had been deliberately killed. It is not clear whether they represent executed criminals or sacrificial victims, or both. See also Grauballe Man, Tollund Man.
The Macmillan dictionary of archaeology, Ruth D. Whitehouse, 1983Copied