Face To Face With Bog Bodies In Museum

Warning: there are pictures of ancient dead bodies in this news story that some of you might find upsetting. If you don't want to see these please click on another story.

A group of 2000-year-old bog bodies has gone on show at The Museum of Science and Industry in Manchester until May 8 2005.

'Bog bodies' or 'bog people' are the remains of human bodies that have been found in bogs.

Shows a photo of a pair of dark brown, flat leather shoes, gathered at the toe, shaped like modern ballet shoes.

These Iron Age shoes made from a single piece of leather were found in a bog. They look like modern ballet shoes don't they?

Bogs are areas of soggy, wet and mushy ground. They're also called swamps or marshes.

The mix of water and chemicals found in boggy ground means that sometimes bodies buried in bogs don't decompose or rot away.


Instead, bodies can be preserved or mummified, rather like Ancient Egyptian mummies. Objects can also be preserved in the same way.

This is a model (right), not a real body. Scientists built the model based on the face of a girl found in a bog in the Netherlands.

She died 2000 years ago, aged about sixteen. She would have looked very much like this when she was alive. Scientists call her 'Yde girl'.

Shows a photo of a reconstruction model of a young girl's head. She has long wavy red hair and pale skin.


Archaeologists LOVE bogs because so many things have been found in them, giving us a huge amount of evidence and information about the past.


There are large areas of bog in northwestern Europe, which is where these bog bodies were found. Most of the ancient bodies found in these bogs were killed violently - they didn't die of old age or illness.

Shows a photograph of the mummified upper body of a girl. there's a clump of red hair alongside her.

This picture shows Yde girl's mummified body. The hair next to the head is her real hair. It's kept its colour for 2000 years.


Archaeologists think the bog people were killed during ceremonies or rituals. Early people believed their lives were controlled by gods and spirits and used to make sacrifices to these gods. The sacrifices might be either precious objects or people.


Bogs were (and often still are) damp, foggy and dangerous places. It's not hard to see why people long ago used to believe spirits and gods would live in these mysterious swamps.

Scientists call this bog body 'Red Franz'. His body was found in a swamp in Germany. He died about 1900 years ago.

Scientists have modelled Red Franz's face too. They took very exact measurements from the body and carefully built up a face in layers, working from the skull outwards.

Shows a photo of a modelled man's head. He has pale skin, blue eyes, short red hair and a red beard.

This picture shows the finished model. Red Franz would have looked very much like this when he was alive.


This method of building up a model of a person's face from the remains of a body is called 'facial reconstruction'.


It's used by police as well as by archaeologists and is a very useful way of finding out what a person would have looked like.

These two bog bodies were found together. At first it was thought they were a man and a woman, but we now know they were two men.

One of the men had been stabbed. They died 2000 years ago and were found in a bog in the Netherlands.

Shows a photograph of two bog bodies, lying side by side. They llok very flat, as if they've been squashed.


It's very interesting to learn about the lives of people who lived thousands of years ago. These bodies are fascinating to many people because they are real evidence from that time. Scientists can work out what the people wore, what they ate, how they died... all sorts of stuff.


But, and there's a BIG but, we have to remember that these are human remains. Once upon a time these people were alive, just like us. Some people believe we shouldn't put bodies on display in an exhibition, even if they are thousands of years old.

Shows a photograph of a beaded necklace.

This beautiful ancient necklace was found in a bog in the Netherlands as well. It's made from amber, tin and glass and

The bog people aren't the first human remains to be on show in a museum by any means. Ancient Egyptian mummies for example are on display in museums all over the world.

What do you think about it? Why not use our Get In Touch page to tell us what you think?

The bog people exhibition in Manchester makes sure the bodies are displayed and treated with respect. It also deals with the debate surrounding human remains and museum displays. If you live near Manchester, don't miss it!

The exhibition is called 'The Mysterious Bog People' and is open until May 8 2005.

If you're interested in boggy matters have a read of Bog Butter Mystery Solved, a story we wrote last year.