1 00:00:01,840 --> 00:00:07,640 Speaker 1: Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeartRadio. Hey brain Stuff, 2 00:00:07,680 --> 00:00:10,920 Speaker 1: Lauren Vogel bomb here with a classic episode from our archives. 3 00:00:11,560 --> 00:00:13,560 Speaker 1: In this one, we go deep into one of my 4 00:00:13,600 --> 00:00:17,279 Speaker 1: favorite subjects, bogs, to dig into the question of why 5 00:00:17,280 --> 00:00:24,000 Speaker 1: they're so specifically good at preserving human remains. Hey brain Stuff, 6 00:00:24,040 --> 00:00:27,680 Speaker 1: lurinvogl bomb here. Bogs are pretty awesome as far as 7 00:00:27,720 --> 00:00:31,360 Speaker 1: sweeping mudfields of dead buried plants go. They store the 8 00:00:31,480 --> 00:00:34,040 Speaker 1: energy of generations of plants in their mass, which can 9 00:00:34,080 --> 00:00:38,680 Speaker 1: be harvested as peat. They're also havens for mummies. Artifacts 10 00:00:38,680 --> 00:00:41,720 Speaker 1: buried beneath bogs, including human bodies, may be kept in 11 00:00:41,800 --> 00:00:45,760 Speaker 1: astonishingly good condition for thousands and thousands of years. They've 12 00:00:45,800 --> 00:00:48,400 Speaker 1: all got stories to tell, and today we'll look at 13 00:00:48,400 --> 00:00:53,280 Speaker 1: the weird science that makes their preservation possible. Common in cool, 14 00:00:53,320 --> 00:00:56,360 Speaker 1: wet parts of the world, bogs are water logged grounds 15 00:00:56,360 --> 00:01:00,000 Speaker 1: that form one decaying plant matter known as pete, accumulates 16 00:01:00,080 --> 00:01:03,560 Speaker 1: in low lying areas. Bogs are usually found in cool 17 00:01:03,600 --> 00:01:06,720 Speaker 1: climates and often in lake basins created by ice age 18 00:01:06,720 --> 00:01:09,200 Speaker 1: glaciers that no longer get a steady flow of river 19 00:01:09,319 --> 00:01:12,679 Speaker 1: or stream water. Over time, mosses cover the heap like 20 00:01:12,680 --> 00:01:15,760 Speaker 1: a blanket, and in most cases, this mossy layer is 21 00:01:15,840 --> 00:01:19,720 Speaker 1: primarily made of a mosque called sphagnum. Sphagnum moss has 22 00:01:19,720 --> 00:01:23,440 Speaker 1: the power to transform an entire landscape. Water or dirt 23 00:01:23,440 --> 00:01:25,400 Speaker 1: trapped beneath sheets of it will be cut off from 24 00:01:25,440 --> 00:01:28,920 Speaker 1: the normal supply of oxygen from the atmosphere. Also, sphagnum 25 00:01:28,959 --> 00:01:32,679 Speaker 1: soaks up calcium and magnesium, which makes the underlying soil 26 00:01:32,760 --> 00:01:37,080 Speaker 1: and water mildly acidic. Since bacteria and fungi find those 27 00:01:37,080 --> 00:01:41,800 Speaker 1: conditions inhospitable, the dead vegetation decomposes at a phenomenally slow rate. 28 00:01:42,360 --> 00:01:45,760 Speaker 1: Instead of breaking down right away, it lingers piling up. 29 00:01:45,760 --> 00:01:49,320 Speaker 1: Over time, masses of the botanical waste gradually turn into peat, 30 00:01:49,640 --> 00:01:53,320 Speaker 1: a soggy, mud colored substance. Peat can be used as 31 00:01:53,360 --> 00:01:55,960 Speaker 1: animal bedding and as a fossil fuel, which makes it 32 00:01:56,000 --> 00:01:58,920 Speaker 1: an important commodity in places like the Irish Midlands and 33 00:01:58,960 --> 00:02:01,680 Speaker 1: in Scotland, where it's the traditional fuel for fires that 34 00:02:01,760 --> 00:02:04,720 Speaker 1: dry out grain to make Scotch whiskey, imparting smoke and 35 00:02:04,760 --> 00:02:08,480 Speaker 1: its flavors along with that heat. But to archaeologists, pete 36 00:02:08,560 --> 00:02:10,840 Speaker 1: is a lot less valuable than the human corpses that 37 00:02:10,919 --> 00:02:14,799 Speaker 1: sometimes come with it. Bogs have long fascinated humans, not 38 00:02:14,880 --> 00:02:17,760 Speaker 1: just for their fossil fuels. The spongy soil has intrigued 39 00:02:17,760 --> 00:02:20,639 Speaker 1: people as far back as the Bronze Age. Many people 40 00:02:20,680 --> 00:02:23,400 Speaker 1: died in these bogs or were placed there after their deaths, 41 00:02:23,880 --> 00:02:26,480 Speaker 1: and these bog bodies, as theirre known, have been found 42 00:02:26,560 --> 00:02:30,560 Speaker 1: all over the world. The wetlands of northwestern Europe, for instance, 43 00:02:30,639 --> 00:02:33,840 Speaker 1: is a bog body hub. Hundreds of these corpses have 44 00:02:33,880 --> 00:02:37,280 Speaker 1: turned up in Germany, England, the Netherlands, and neighboring countries. 45 00:02:37,680 --> 00:02:40,960 Speaker 1: In twenty eleven, pete harvesters working in Ireland accidentally ran 46 00:02:41,040 --> 00:02:44,120 Speaker 1: over a Bronze Age corpse with a milling machine. Dubbed 47 00:02:44,160 --> 00:02:47,000 Speaker 1: the cashle Man. The harvester found all that was left 48 00:02:47,000 --> 00:02:49,440 Speaker 1: of an adult male who probably died in his twenties. 49 00:02:50,200 --> 00:02:52,880 Speaker 1: His body was riddled with injuries, including a broken arm 50 00:02:52,919 --> 00:02:55,720 Speaker 1: and a nasty cut across the backside. Some of these 51 00:02:55,760 --> 00:02:57,680 Speaker 1: may have been caused by the compressing weight of the 52 00:02:57,680 --> 00:03:01,960 Speaker 1: bog moss above him or the blades of that milling device. Nevertheless, 53 00:03:02,120 --> 00:03:04,760 Speaker 1: archaeologists have reason to suspect that the casual Man was 54 00:03:04,760 --> 00:03:09,520 Speaker 1: a ritualized sacrifice victim. Other European bog bodies have displayed 55 00:03:09,560 --> 00:03:13,280 Speaker 1: stab wounds, slit throats, and evidence of torture. Historians think 56 00:03:13,280 --> 00:03:16,560 Speaker 1: that the local wetlands were once a hotbed for religious sacrifices. 57 00:03:17,760 --> 00:03:20,320 Speaker 1: Carbon dating tells us the casual Man perished about four 58 00:03:20,360 --> 00:03:24,040 Speaker 1: thousand years ago, seven centuries before King Tuton Common was born. 59 00:03:24,600 --> 00:03:27,480 Speaker 1: To date, he's the oldest European bog body on record 60 00:03:27,480 --> 00:03:31,200 Speaker 1: with intact skin. That's right, the corpse of somebody who's 61 00:03:31,200 --> 00:03:34,280 Speaker 1: been dead for four millennia still has its skin attached. 62 00:03:34,800 --> 00:03:37,560 Speaker 1: And this isn't a fluke. Lots of bog bodies retain 63 00:03:37,680 --> 00:03:40,640 Speaker 1: some or all of their original skin. The talland Man, 64 00:03:40,720 --> 00:03:43,000 Speaker 1: a twenty three hundred year old corpse recovered from a 65 00:03:43,000 --> 00:03:46,600 Speaker 1: Denmark peat bog in nineteen fifty, has skeletonized hands, but 66 00:03:46,680 --> 00:03:49,880 Speaker 1: elsewhere his skin is so well preserved that little details 67 00:03:49,920 --> 00:03:53,640 Speaker 1: like the wrinkles on his forehead are still visible. Although 68 00:03:53,680 --> 00:03:56,960 Speaker 1: the talland Man's skin didn't rot away, the mummification process 69 00:03:57,040 --> 00:04:00,600 Speaker 1: did change its appearance and texture. Like the man and 70 00:04:00,680 --> 00:04:04,240 Speaker 1: lots of other bog bodies, he sports leathery, dark brown skin. 71 00:04:04,840 --> 00:04:07,160 Speaker 1: Some of them also have preserved hair that was dyed 72 00:04:07,240 --> 00:04:10,480 Speaker 1: red after death. This is most likely caused by a 73 00:04:10,520 --> 00:04:14,120 Speaker 1: recently discovered polymer called sphagnin, which seeps out of dead 74 00:04:14,200 --> 00:04:17,120 Speaker 1: sphagnum moss if you think of leather. It's made through 75 00:04:17,120 --> 00:04:20,039 Speaker 1: a process called tanning that strengthens the bonds between some 76 00:04:20,080 --> 00:04:23,400 Speaker 1: of the natural fibers in animal hides. As a tanning agent, 77 00:04:23,640 --> 00:04:26,760 Speaker 1: sphagnin has the same effect on human skin, rendering it 78 00:04:26,800 --> 00:04:31,599 Speaker 1: tough and tea colored. Sphagnin also binds with nitrogen, which 79 00:04:31,640 --> 00:04:35,480 Speaker 1: bacteria need to survive, so by removing nitrogen from the environment, 80 00:04:35,680 --> 00:04:38,880 Speaker 1: spagnin helps prevent the spread of microorganisms that would normally 81 00:04:38,920 --> 00:04:43,240 Speaker 1: be breaking down human and animal remains. And Furthermore, sphagnin, 82 00:04:43,400 --> 00:04:46,280 Speaker 1: along with the acid that it turns into, pulls calcium 83 00:04:46,320 --> 00:04:49,880 Speaker 1: right out of dead bodies. Bones get weakened in the process. 84 00:04:50,320 --> 00:04:53,400 Speaker 1: Although spagnin does a fine job of preserving skin, its 85 00:04:53,440 --> 00:04:57,159 Speaker 1: calcium thievery isn't great for skeletons. Mummies have been found 86 00:04:57,200 --> 00:05:00,120 Speaker 1: in certain bogs with soft, extra flimsy bones that are 87 00:05:00,120 --> 00:05:03,240 Speaker 1: about Astarte's cardboard and that have been distorted by heavy peat. 88 00:05:04,080 --> 00:05:08,480 Speaker 1: But that's assuming the decalcification process doesn't altogether eliminate bones. 89 00:05:08,880 --> 00:05:11,600 Speaker 1: Lots of bog bodies have been found missing bones, and 90 00:05:11,640 --> 00:05:14,560 Speaker 1: some of the mummies are totally boneless. The latter are 91 00:05:14,600 --> 00:05:18,000 Speaker 1: basically human shaped bags of leathery skin wrapped around some 92 00:05:18,080 --> 00:05:22,200 Speaker 1: pickled organs. Not all bogs are so hostile to bones, though. 93 00:05:22,560 --> 00:05:25,440 Speaker 1: The water's acidity level varies from bog to bog, and 94 00:05:25,480 --> 00:05:29,599 Speaker 1: this impacts corpse preservation. Archaeologists have discovered that in really 95 00:05:29,680 --> 00:05:32,520 Speaker 1: acidic peat bogs, the resident mummies have lots of skin 96 00:05:32,560 --> 00:05:36,000 Speaker 1: and soft tissue and weak or non existent bones. But 97 00:05:36,160 --> 00:05:40,000 Speaker 1: there are some boggy places with relatively alkaline water. Here 98 00:05:40,080 --> 00:05:43,040 Speaker 1: the environment pretty much has the opposite effect on corpses. 99 00:05:43,400 --> 00:05:46,320 Speaker 1: A take, for example, the wind Over Archaeological Site, a 100 00:05:46,360 --> 00:05:49,039 Speaker 1: peat bottomed pond in Florida that became the final resting 101 00:05:49,080 --> 00:05:51,680 Speaker 1: place for dozens of Native Americans between seven and eight 102 00:05:51,680 --> 00:05:55,119 Speaker 1: thousand years ago. Skeletal remains from one hundred and sixty 103 00:05:55,160 --> 00:05:57,920 Speaker 1: eight people have turned up in the peat. A large 104 00:05:57,960 --> 00:06:00,599 Speaker 1: deposit of crushed up snail shells lying to the pond 105 00:06:00,800 --> 00:06:04,440 Speaker 1: supplies the water with magnesium and calcium carbonates that makes 106 00:06:04,480 --> 00:06:07,880 Speaker 1: the water more alkaline, neutralizing the sphagnen to an extent. 107 00:06:08,760 --> 00:06:11,520 Speaker 1: Instead of mummified skin bags the bog is rife with 108 00:06:11,640 --> 00:06:14,440 Speaker 1: naked bones and skeletons a bear as they are on 109 00:06:14,480 --> 00:06:17,200 Speaker 1: the outside, the ancient bones had a big surprise in 110 00:06:17,200 --> 00:06:20,320 Speaker 1: store for scientists. Brain tissue was found in more than 111 00:06:20,400 --> 00:06:24,000 Speaker 1: ninety of the windover pond skulls, making them extra fascinating 112 00:06:24,080 --> 00:06:28,039 Speaker 1: fines by the way bonus fact of the episode. Most 113 00:06:28,080 --> 00:06:31,400 Speaker 1: carnivorous plants, such as sundews and pitcher plants grow in 114 00:06:31,520 --> 00:06:35,000 Speaker 1: bog soils, which tend to be nutrient poor. Eating animal 115 00:06:35,040 --> 00:06:40,200 Speaker 1: prey is a strategy that helps them obtain vital nutrients. 116 00:06:43,600 --> 00:06:46,120 Speaker 1: Today's episode is based on the article peat bogs are 117 00:06:46,160 --> 00:06:49,320 Speaker 1: freakishly good of preserving human remains on how stuffworks dot Com. 118 00:06:49,320 --> 00:06:52,040 Speaker 1: Written by Mark Mancini. Brain Stuff its production of I 119 00:06:52,080 --> 00:06:54,440 Speaker 1: Heart Radio in partnership with house stuffworks dot Com and 120 00:06:54,560 --> 00:06:57,880 Speaker 1: is produced by Tyler Klain. For more podcasts my heart Radio, 121 00:06:58,160 --> 00:07:00,839 Speaker 1: visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast Guests, or wherever you 122 00:07:00,880 --> 00:07:02,200 Speaker 1: listen to your favorite shows.