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European bog bodies: current state of research and preservation

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Part of the book series: The Man in the Ice ((3262,volume 3))

Abstract

Of the various well preserved ancient bodies which have been discovered in different world environments, none have produced as many human remains as peat bogs. These have mainly been derived from peat deposits in North-West Europe, although some peat-preserved remains have appeared elsewhere, including in America. Altogether, it has been estimated that well over 1400 bodies, or parts of bodies, have thus been found. However, it is not usually stated that the majority of finds are of bones only, or in some cases only clothing with perhaps human skin and hair. So it is difficult to estimate with precision the number of well preserved bodies which have been found, although for Britain and Ireland I would estimate that there have been about 30 well preserved bodies out of around 200 human finds in peat bogs (15%).

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© 1996 Springer-Verlag Wien

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Brothwell, D. (1996). European bog bodies: current state of research and preservation. In: Spindler, K., Wilfing, H., Rastbichler-Zissernig, E., zur Nedden, D., Nothdurfter, H. (eds) Human Mummies. The Man in the Ice, vol 3. Springer, Vienna. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7091-6565-2_16

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-7091-6565-2_16

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Vienna

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-7091-7352-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-7091-6565-2

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