The peat bogs of northern Europe have become home to people who have been dead for centuries. These bogs are formed due to limited plant varieties that are largely dominated by sphagnum moss. Within this moss is a polysaccharide called sphagnan, whose antibiotic properties are important in the preservation of the bodies. Most often bog bodies range from 900 BC to 1800 AD. Whether it was an accidental fall, the dumping scene of a murder, or a ritualistic sacrifice, the chemical makeup of these bogs allows researchers to uncover the fully intact bodies of the dead. Natural preservation techniques keep soft tissues almost entirely undamaged. Tissue survival depends on how fast the body is immersed in water, temperature, time of year, …show more content…
This excavation allows researchers to assess age through Accelerator Mass Spectrometry dating, as well as possibly determine what their last meal was. Following the excavation, in order to keep the bog bodies in a state where research can continue, it is essential to conserve the bodies. For this step novel approaches are put into use in order to keep the body the way it is.
Peat bogs are ideal for human preservation for a variety of reasons. Proper human preservation in this setting calls for anaerobic, acidic, and wet conditions to be present in order for the skin to be preserved. The bogs of Europe house all three of the aforementioned conditions. It is also suggested that bodies are preserved in sphagnum peat bogs because they are tanned by sphagnan- a pectin like polysaccharide from the cell walls of sphagnum mosses. Additionally sphagnum aids in preservation by “reacting with the digestive enzymes secreted by putrefactive bacteria and immobilizing them on the surface of the peat.” Sphagnan binds with proteins on the surface of microorganisms in a way that immobilizes them whilst removing them from the water. Sphagnan’s highly reactive carbonyl groups can alter the chemicals and nutrients necessary for the decomposition of a piece of organic matter. The groups found in sphagnan essentially connect collagen molecules, this preserves them from degradation. By linking the collagen fibers,
Historians and archaeologists investigated Tollund man extensively through the wonderful preservations of his body which gave them hard evidence to support their theories about Tollund Man’s death. The Tollund Man was found on the 6th of May 1950 by two brothers at Silkeborg, Denmark, in a peat bog. He was positioned on his side in a cradle position, naked with a leather belt around his waist, a pointed sheepskin cap with a leather strap that was positioned firmly under his chin and a noose around his neck. The substances in the peat bog prevented the body from decomposing. The bog contains Sphagnum moss which creates acids in the water and grows a glass covering over the water blocking out oxygen and keeping in heat, all in which cause
While the thought of a giant farm full of decaying bodies may seem gruesome and terrifying, everyday it helps us learn new things about forensics. Firstly, The Body Farm was made known to the public when famous crime novelist Patricia Cornwell published a book with the same name about the farm (“Dead” 2). This book gave The Body Farm the recognition in more of a public eye. Patricia even states in the foreword of The Body Farm of how she came to learn about the farm and Dr. Bass, and how it changed her life. The Body Farm is an outdoor classroom designed to teach forensic anthropology students, and professionals in the legal and medical field, how the body decays and how the world plays a role in it (Drinnen 1). This farm not only benefits one type of science, but many all combined together, which is what forensics is made of. Police also use this to test and find how a body died in order to solve a case. The background behind the Body Farm is vast and important to our knowledge of the human body, whether we realize it or
2. Given that the half-life of the radioisotope carbon-14 is 5730 years, how useful do you think this isotope would be for dating bones that are over a million years old?
The distribution of skeletal remains tell the scientists how long the bones or individual has been there. The most challenging part for me would have to be finding the little pieces of the puzzle, the missing link or where the body originally was.
2) Carbon -14 would not be effective at dating bones that are millions of years old. Carbon -14 is effective at dating to a maximum of 40 000 to 50 000 years old. The isotope decays over time and would not be present on bones that are millions of years old.
Bog Bodies allow us to delve into the ancient lifestyles that the individuals led, this includes their diet, their looks, their clothing, their beliefs and their customs. Tollund Man revealed all this information and more when scientists began to reconstruct his life. Tollund Man was found with a leather belt and a
The alternative to bog bodies is skeletonized remains, which just don’t provide the very detailed insight into the lives of people from thousands of years ago, that the bog bodies do. Unlike the skeletonized remains, bog bodies come with appearance, clothing, equipment, occasionally in tact organs and evidence of violence, all of which are lost on simple bone remains.
This book informs the reader about bog bodies and how crucial they are to scientists because they’re a journey to the past. Bog bodies are bodies that were deposited in a bog shortly after death, they were then naturally preserved in the bog. To clarify why they’re so important, bog bodies are usually so well preserved that their skin, intestines and other parts of their body remain. Scientists study them and they are able to find when they died, using radiocarbon analysis, and how they died which is only possible it’s not a skeleton because certain wounds can only be seen on skin and not on bones. There was a section in that text that impacted me, it was: “With new tests and procedure, with determination and perhaps some luck, scientists may
Bones that did not burn completely were ground to powder with pestles and then dumped, along with the ashes, in the rivers Soła and Vistula and in nearby ponds, or strewn in the fields as fertilizer.”
When construction crews initially began clearing the site in 2009, they found “an unremarkable assortment of artifacts near the surface.” But when they dug deeper, they found “a foot-thick layer of peat” that proved to be over 10,000 years old after radiocarbon analysis. Scattered throughout the impressively old dirt were over 4,000 stone tools, including spear points, awls, scrapers, and flakes. Chemical analysis of the tools shows that their owners were likely using them to eat “bison, deer, bear, sheep, and salmon.”
Bog bodies have kept their skin and internal organs due to the specific conditions of the surrounding area. These conditions include highly acidic waters, low temperatures, and a lack of oxygen. These conditions will affect the skin of the body, causing it to tan. The oldest known body is the skeleton of Koelbjerg Woman from Demark. This body was dated back to 8,000 BCE, which is during the Mesolithic period, but the oldest fleshed bog body is Cashel Man. is body dates back to 2,000 BCE, which is during the bronze age
Instead of practicing modern day burials, people should consider using green burial services, otherwise known as a conservation cemetery. A green burial is “where human remains are interred naturally, part of a growing trend away from traditional burials in favor of eco-friendly gravesites”. In recent decades the world has seen a rise in pollution and one way to decrease the human imprint is to stop the use of embalming fluid. It needs immediate attention because of the effect that it has on the animal kingdom and environment.
When we hear the word “mummy” we usually think of horror movies, cartoons and our favorite dress up holiday “Halloween”, but we never really think of the deep significant value mummies have given our world. On a recent trip to the Houston Museum of Natural Science I discover the fascinating truth behind mummies. I had the great pleasure of exploring one of the most amazing exhibits called “Mummies of the World”, and got to learn many interesting things like what they stand for and most importantly who they where.
Sulphites have capabilities that are not shared with nitrites, one of which is sulphites capability to inhibit enzymic browning. This role of sulphites is used in the storage of frozen foods and prepared potatoes by submerging the product in a sulphite bath, also in the prevention of melanosis in shrimp. The sulphites bind to enzymes or reaction intermediaries to inhibit the discolouration process (Prabhakar & Reddy, 2000), in the example of using sulphite as a polyphenol oxidase inhibitor, sulphites can also prevent browning through reducing coloured quinones back to colourless diphenols.
Bernard Spilsbury, the forensic pathologist whose advice was sought out regarding some of the more macabre details of “Mincemeat” prior to this, was once again consulted but this time he was asked for his opinion on how to best preserve the corpse aboard a submarine. Spilsbury had explained that oxygen caused the rapid decomposition of a corpse however, “if most of the oxygen had previously been excluded” (71) from the container and it was airtight, then the body would remain perfectly useable for the deception operation (it would not decompose too