The bog people - P.V. Glob

This is a reprint of a classic book about the remains of iron-age people preserved in peat-bogs, which throws fascinating light on ancient ways of life, religion and rituals. During the last two centuries, workers in bogs throughout Europe have often accidentally exposed sunken human bodies that looked to them like incarnate devils. Actually, they were being confronted with their own ancestors of two thousand and more years ago. The bog waters have kept the bodies from decay, sometimes even preserving the facial expression at the moment of death. Most of these bog people bear signs of violent ends. Are they murder victims, sacrificial victims, or executed criminals?Acting as a consultant after the discovery of one such body, Professor Glob noted that the anguished face seemed peaceful when viewed apart from the means of death: the rope still tight around the neck. Later he perceived a connection between these bodies and a fertility goddess often portrayed with neck chains. In The Bog People, Glob unravels the dark, forbidding background of their story. He introduces us to Iron Age men of the period of the Roman Empire, and to the rituals they performed in unfrequented woods and groves. Here they felt the presence of the goddess and propitiated her in an appalling way.