1 00:00:02,040 --> 00:00:07,040 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff from how Stuff Works, Hey, brain Stuff, 2 00:00:07,120 --> 00:00:10,520 Speaker 1: Lauren voke obam here. Bogs are pretty awesome as far 3 00:00:10,600 --> 00:00:14,000 Speaker 1: as sweeping mud fields of dead buried plants go. They 4 00:00:14,080 --> 00:00:16,560 Speaker 1: store the energy of generations of plants in their mass, 5 00:00:16,600 --> 00:00:20,640 Speaker 1: which can be harvested as pete. They're also havens for mummies. 6 00:00:21,239 --> 00:00:24,680 Speaker 1: Artifacts buried beneath bogs, including human bodies, may be kept 7 00:00:24,720 --> 00:00:28,000 Speaker 1: in astonishingly good condition for thousands and thousands of years. 8 00:00:28,520 --> 00:00:31,320 Speaker 1: They've all got stories to tell, and today we'll look 9 00:00:31,320 --> 00:00:35,720 Speaker 1: at the weird science that makes their preservation possible. Common 10 00:00:35,800 --> 00:00:38,520 Speaker 1: in cool, wet parts of the world, bogs are water 11 00:00:38,600 --> 00:00:42,240 Speaker 1: logged grounds that form when decaying plant matter, known as pete, 12 00:00:42,400 --> 00:00:46,320 Speaker 1: accumulates in low lying areas. Bogs are usually found in 13 00:00:46,360 --> 00:00:49,440 Speaker 1: cool climates and often in lake basins created by ice 14 00:00:49,520 --> 00:00:51,960 Speaker 1: age glaciers that no longer get a steady flow of 15 00:00:52,080 --> 00:00:55,560 Speaker 1: river or stream water over time. Mosses cover the heap 16 00:00:55,600 --> 00:00:58,680 Speaker 1: like a blanket, and in most cases, this mossy layer 17 00:00:58,800 --> 00:01:02,760 Speaker 1: is primarily made of am called sphagnum. Sphactum. Moss has 18 00:01:02,760 --> 00:01:06,479 Speaker 1: the power to transform an entire landscape. Water or dirt 19 00:01:06,480 --> 00:01:08,440 Speaker 1: trapped beneath sheets of it. Will be cut off from 20 00:01:08,480 --> 00:01:11,920 Speaker 1: the normal supply of oxygen from the atmosphere. Also, sphagnum 21 00:01:12,000 --> 00:01:15,720 Speaker 1: soaks up calcium and magnesium, which makes the underlying soil 22 00:01:15,800 --> 00:01:20,119 Speaker 1: and water mildly acidic. Since bacteria and fungi find those 23 00:01:20,160 --> 00:01:24,880 Speaker 1: conditions inhospitable, the dead vegetation decomposes at a phenomenally slow rate. 24 00:01:25,400 --> 00:01:28,800 Speaker 1: Instead of breaking down right away, it lingers piling up. 25 00:01:28,840 --> 00:01:32,399 Speaker 1: Over time, masses of the botanical waste gradually turn into pete, 26 00:01:32,680 --> 00:01:36,360 Speaker 1: a soggy, mud colored substance. Pete can be used as 27 00:01:36,400 --> 00:01:39,000 Speaker 1: animal bedding and as a fossil fuel, which makes it 28 00:01:39,040 --> 00:01:41,920 Speaker 1: an important commodity in places like the Irish Midlands and 29 00:01:42,000 --> 00:01:44,720 Speaker 1: in Scotland, where it's the traditional fuel for fires that 30 00:01:44,800 --> 00:01:47,760 Speaker 1: dry out grain to make Scotch whiskey, imparting smoke and 31 00:01:47,800 --> 00:01:51,520 Speaker 1: its flavors along with that heat. But two archaeologists, pete 32 00:01:51,600 --> 00:01:53,880 Speaker 1: is a lot less valuable than the human corpses that 33 00:01:53,960 --> 00:01:57,760 Speaker 1: sometimes come with it. Bogs have long fascinated humans, not 34 00:01:57,880 --> 00:02:00,840 Speaker 1: just for their fossil fuels. The spongee oil has intrigued 35 00:02:00,840 --> 00:02:03,680 Speaker 1: people as far back as the Bronze Age. Many people 36 00:02:03,720 --> 00:02:06,880 Speaker 1: died in these bogs or were placed there after their deaths, 37 00:02:06,920 --> 00:02:09,560 Speaker 1: and these bog bodies, as they're known, have been found 38 00:02:09,600 --> 00:02:13,600 Speaker 1: all over the world. The wetlands of northwestern Europe, for instance, 39 00:02:13,680 --> 00:02:16,880 Speaker 1: is a bog body hub. Hundreds of these corpses have 40 00:02:16,960 --> 00:02:20,280 Speaker 1: turned up in Germany, England, the Netherlands and neighboring countries. 41 00:02:20,720 --> 00:02:24,320 Speaker 1: In eleven pete harvesters working in Ireland accidentally ran over 42 00:02:24,360 --> 00:02:27,280 Speaker 1: a Bronze age corpse with a milling machine. Dubbed the 43 00:02:27,320 --> 00:02:30,120 Speaker 1: Castle Man. The harvester found all that was left of 44 00:02:30,120 --> 00:02:33,320 Speaker 1: an adult male who probably died in his twenties. His 45 00:02:33,400 --> 00:02:36,040 Speaker 1: body was riddled with injuries, including a broken arm and 46 00:02:36,040 --> 00:02:38,920 Speaker 1: a nasty cut across the backside. Some of these may 47 00:02:38,919 --> 00:02:41,000 Speaker 1: have been caused by the compressing weight of the bog 48 00:02:41,040 --> 00:02:45,000 Speaker 1: moss above him or the blades of that milling device. Nevertheless, 49 00:02:45,200 --> 00:02:47,799 Speaker 1: archaeologists have reason to suspect that the casual Man was 50 00:02:47,840 --> 00:02:52,600 Speaker 1: a ritualized sacrifice victim. Other European bog bodies have displayed 51 00:02:52,600 --> 00:02:56,280 Speaker 1: stab wounds, slit throats, and evidence of torture. Historians think 52 00:02:56,360 --> 00:02:59,600 Speaker 1: that the local wetlands were once a hotbed for religious sacrifices. 53 00:03:00,800 --> 00:03:03,359 Speaker 1: Carbon dating tells us the casual man perished about four 54 00:03:03,400 --> 00:03:07,080 Speaker 1: thousand years ago, seven centuries before King Tuton Common was born. 55 00:03:07,600 --> 00:03:10,480 Speaker 1: To date, he's the oldest European bog body on record 56 00:03:10,560 --> 00:03:14,240 Speaker 1: with intact skin. That's right, the corpse of somebody who's 57 00:03:14,280 --> 00:03:17,360 Speaker 1: been dead for four millennia still has its skin attached, 58 00:03:17,840 --> 00:03:20,639 Speaker 1: and this isn't a fluke. Lots of bog bodies retain 59 00:03:20,720 --> 00:03:23,639 Speaker 1: some or all of their original skin. The Taaland Man, 60 00:03:23,760 --> 00:03:26,040 Speaker 1: a twenty three hundred year old corpse recovered from a 61 00:03:26,040 --> 00:03:29,640 Speaker 1: Denmark peat bog in nineteen fifty, has skeletonized hands, but 62 00:03:29,720 --> 00:03:32,919 Speaker 1: elsewhere his skin is so well preserved that little details 63 00:03:32,919 --> 00:03:36,720 Speaker 1: like the wrinkles on his forehead are still visible. Although 64 00:03:36,720 --> 00:03:40,000 Speaker 1: the Taaland Man's skin didn't rot away, the mummification process 65 00:03:40,080 --> 00:03:43,520 Speaker 1: did change its appearance and texture. Like the casual man 66 00:03:43,560 --> 00:03:46,560 Speaker 1: and lots of other bog bodies, he sports leathery, dark 67 00:03:46,600 --> 00:03:49,720 Speaker 1: brown skin. Some of them also have preserved hair that 68 00:03:49,840 --> 00:03:53,240 Speaker 1: was dyed red after death. This is most likely caused 69 00:03:53,240 --> 00:03:56,800 Speaker 1: by a recently discovered polymer called sphagnum, which seeps out 70 00:03:56,800 --> 00:03:59,800 Speaker 1: of dead sphagnum moss. If you think of leather, it's 71 00:04:00,040 --> 00:04:02,960 Speaker 1: through a process called tanning that strengthens the bonds between 72 00:04:03,000 --> 00:04:05,760 Speaker 1: some of the natural fibers in animal hides. As a 73 00:04:05,800 --> 00:04:08,920 Speaker 1: tanning agent, sphagnan has the same effect on human skin, 74 00:04:09,240 --> 00:04:14,320 Speaker 1: rendering it tough and tea colored. Sphagnan also binds with nitrogen, 75 00:04:14,440 --> 00:04:17,880 Speaker 1: which bacteria need to survive, so by removing nitrogen from 76 00:04:17,920 --> 00:04:21,200 Speaker 1: the environment, sphagnan helps prevent the spread of microorganisms that 77 00:04:21,240 --> 00:04:26,280 Speaker 1: would normally be breaking down human and animal remains. And Furthermore, sphagnan, 78 00:04:26,440 --> 00:04:29,320 Speaker 1: along with the acid that it turns into, pulls calcium 79 00:04:29,400 --> 00:04:33,360 Speaker 1: right out of dead bodies. Bones get weakened in the process. 80 00:04:33,360 --> 00:04:36,400 Speaker 1: Although sphagnan does a fine job of preserving skin, it's 81 00:04:36,440 --> 00:04:40,200 Speaker 1: calcium thievery isn't great for skeletons. Mummies have been found 82 00:04:40,240 --> 00:04:43,080 Speaker 1: in certain bogs with soft, extra flimsy bones that are 83 00:04:43,120 --> 00:04:46,240 Speaker 1: about astarte's cardboard and that have been distorted by heavy peat, 84 00:04:47,120 --> 00:04:51,440 Speaker 1: but that's assuming the decalcification process doesn't altogether eliminate bones. 85 00:04:51,920 --> 00:04:54,640 Speaker 1: Lots of bog bodies have been found missing bones, and 86 00:04:54,720 --> 00:04:57,600 Speaker 1: some of the mummies are totally boneless. The latter are 87 00:04:57,640 --> 00:05:01,080 Speaker 1: basically human shaped bags of leatheries in wrapped around some 88 00:05:01,120 --> 00:05:05,240 Speaker 1: pickled organs. Not all bogs are so hostile to bones, though, 89 00:05:05,600 --> 00:05:08,599 Speaker 1: the water's acidity level varies from bogged bog and this 90 00:05:08,720 --> 00:05:13,120 Speaker 1: impacts corpse preservation. Archaeologists have discovered that in really acidic 91 00:05:13,120 --> 00:05:15,680 Speaker 1: peat bogs, the resident mummies have lots of skin and 92 00:05:15,720 --> 00:05:19,360 Speaker 1: soft tissue and weak or non existent bones, But there 93 00:05:19,400 --> 00:05:23,200 Speaker 1: are some boggy places with relatively alkaline water. Here the 94 00:05:23,320 --> 00:05:26,760 Speaker 1: environment pretty much has the opposite effect on corpses. A take, 95 00:05:26,880 --> 00:05:30,359 Speaker 1: for example, the Windover Archaeological Site, a peat bottomed pond 96 00:05:30,400 --> 00:05:32,880 Speaker 1: in Florida that became the final resting place for dozens 97 00:05:32,880 --> 00:05:35,520 Speaker 1: of Native Americans between seven and eight thousand years ago. 98 00:05:36,240 --> 00:05:38,760 Speaker 1: Skeletal remains from a hundred and sixty eight people have 99 00:05:38,839 --> 00:05:41,839 Speaker 1: turned up in the peat. A large deposit of crushed 100 00:05:41,920 --> 00:05:44,640 Speaker 1: up snail shells lying under the pond supplies the water 101 00:05:44,680 --> 00:05:48,680 Speaker 1: with magnesium and calcium carbonates That makes the water more alkaline, 102 00:05:48,920 --> 00:05:53,440 Speaker 1: neutralizing the spagnum to an extent. Instead of mummified skin bags, 103 00:05:53,560 --> 00:05:56,599 Speaker 1: the bog is rife with naked bones and skeletons a 104 00:05:56,640 --> 00:05:59,119 Speaker 1: bear as they are on the outside. The ancient bones 105 00:05:59,160 --> 00:06:01,960 Speaker 1: had a big surprise sides in store for scientists. Brain 106 00:06:02,040 --> 00:06:04,480 Speaker 1: tissue was found in more than ninety of the windover 107 00:06:04,560 --> 00:06:09,120 Speaker 1: pond skulls, making them extra fascinating fines by the way, 108 00:06:09,279 --> 00:06:12,520 Speaker 1: bonus fact of the episode. Most carnivorous plants, such as 109 00:06:12,560 --> 00:06:15,800 Speaker 1: sundews and pitcher plants grow in bog soils, which tend 110 00:06:15,839 --> 00:06:19,120 Speaker 1: to be nutrient poor. Eating animal prey is a strategy 111 00:06:19,160 --> 00:06:27,000 Speaker 1: that helps them obtain vital nutrients. Today's episode was written 112 00:06:27,040 --> 00:06:29,599 Speaker 1: by Mark Bancini and produced by Tyler clayg for iHeart 113 00:06:29,600 --> 00:06:31,839 Speaker 1: Media and how Stuff Works. For more on this and 114 00:06:31,880 --> 00:06:34,440 Speaker 1: lots of other topics that aren't too bogged down, visit 115 00:06:34,440 --> 00:06:47,880 Speaker 1: our home planet to stuff works dot com.