A Pilgrim’s Pickling

Miranda Aldhouse-green, emeritus professor of archaeology at Cardiff University, says that many of the bog people may have been on spiritual journeys before being killed

Recent research highlights the ‘geographic outsider’ status of two of the Danish bog bodies (the women of Huldremose and Haraldskaer). Do you agree that this was the most important factor in their deaths?

This new interpretation, based on isotopic analysis, is very important for endeavours to understand who these people were in life. In no way does it detract from the idea of the special status according those who ended up as bog people.

The idea of the spiritual journey makes total sense to the notion that Haraldskaer Woman was some kind of religious leader, even a shaman. Pilgrimage was important in the ancient world and someone who had travelled widely would have been invested with exotic and powerful status. Not many people within Iron Age communities would have the opportunity to make such journeys; they would be expensive, time-consuming and potentially risky, so those undertaking them would not have done so lightly.

Do you think other bog bodies could have had a similar ‘outsider’ status?

I suspect this might be the case. I think I’m right in saying that there is evidence that Tollund Man also made a long journey in the months before he died. This idea has a particular interest in terms of the bog people who had some disability that made walking difficult, such as Yde Girl and Kayhausen Boy. For these individuals, a pilgrimage would itself have been a huge act of self-sacrifice.

Does scientific evidence support the theory that many bog people were ritually killed?

In speaking to colleagues involved in bog body research, particularly in Denmark, there is wide agreement that scientific techniques applied now serve to endorse and bolster ideas of ritualised deaths.

Of course, it is impossible to be dogmatic and assume that all the bodies we know about died in sacrificial circumstances, but the highly choreographed killings, the overkill violence and the ‘last suppers’ of so many all seem to point to the choice for bog-based ceremonies being wrapped around with ritual behaviour.

Which is your favourite bog body?

One is Haraldskaer Woman and the other is Clonycavan Man from Ireland. New examination of both has the potential for revealing many more secrets associated with seasonality, status and links with foreign lands. With Clonycavan Man, these links are symbolised by his exotic hair gel, imported from southern Europe.

Since bog bodies are always found by accident, often damaging them, do you think it will ever be possible for them to be detected before they are disturbed?

This is something that I am actively considering. It should be possible to develop techniques for underwater and underground testing of areas of raised bogs where bodies have already been found. At present, likely sites for this include central Ireland, the Tollund marsh in Denmark and Lindow Moss in Cheshire.

Is it right to display these kinds of human remains in much the same way as other artefacts?

Ethical issues are important. These are people, not artefacts, and need to be accorded respect.

If they are to be displayed, the model of excellence is the Tollund Man room in Silkeborg Museum, where he resides peacefully in a small room decorated as though it were a bog, and where only a few people can see him at a time.

Miranda Aldhouse-green’s latest book,

Bog Bodies Uncovered: Solving Europe’s Ancient Mystery, is published by Thames and Hudson.