WEBVTT - BrainStuff Classics: Why Are Peat Bogs So Good at Preserving Human Remains?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to brain Stuff, a production of iHeartRadio. Hey brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>Lauren Vogel bomb here with a classic episode from our archives.

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<v Speaker 1>In this one, we go deep into one of my

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<v Speaker 1>favorite subjects, bogs, to dig into the question of why

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<v Speaker 1>they're so specifically good at preserving human remains. Hey brain Stuff,

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<v Speaker 1>lurinvogl bomb here. Bogs are pretty awesome as far as

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<v Speaker 1>sweeping mudfields of dead buried plants go. They store the

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<v Speaker 1>energy of generations of plants in their mass, which can

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<v Speaker 1>be harvested as peat. They're also havens for mummies. Artifacts

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<v Speaker 1>buried beneath bogs, including human bodies, may be kept in

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<v Speaker 1>astonishingly good condition for thousands and thousands of years. They've

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<v Speaker 1>all got stories to tell, and today we'll look at

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<v Speaker 1>the weird science that makes their preservation possible. Common in cool,

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<v Speaker 1>wet parts of the world, bogs are water logged grounds

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<v Speaker 1>that form one decaying plant matter known as pete, accumulates

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<v Speaker 1>in low lying areas. Bogs are usually found in cool

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<v Speaker 1>climates and often in lake basins created by ice age

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<v Speaker 1>glaciers that no longer get a steady flow of river

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<v Speaker 1>or stream water. Over time, mosses cover the heap like

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<v Speaker 1>a blanket, and in most cases, this mossy layer is

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<v Speaker 1>primarily made of a mosque called sphagnum. Sphagnum moss has

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<v Speaker 1>the power to transform an entire landscape. Water or dirt

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<v Speaker 1>trapped beneath sheets of it will be cut off from

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<v Speaker 1>the normal supply of oxygen from the atmosphere. Also, sphagnum

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<v Speaker 1>soaks up calcium and magnesium, which makes the underlying soil

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<v Speaker 1>and water mildly acidic. Since bacteria and fungi find those

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<v Speaker 1>conditions inhospitable, the dead vegetation decomposes at a phenomenally slow rate.

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<v Speaker 1>Instead of breaking down right away, it lingers piling up.

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<v Speaker 1>Over time, masses of the botanical waste gradually turn into peat,

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<v Speaker 1>a soggy, mud colored substance. Peat can be used as

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<v Speaker 1>animal bedding and as a fossil fuel, which makes it

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<v Speaker 1>an important commodity in places like the Irish Midlands and

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<v Speaker 1>in Scotland, where it's the traditional fuel for fires that

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<v Speaker 1>dry out grain to make Scotch whiskey, imparting smoke and

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<v Speaker 1>its flavors along with that heat. But to archaeologists, pete

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<v Speaker 1>is a lot less valuable than the human corpses that

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<v Speaker 1>sometimes come with it. Bogs have long fascinated humans, not

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<v Speaker 1>just for their fossil fuels. The spongy soil has intrigued

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<v Speaker 1>people as far back as the Bronze Age. Many people

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<v Speaker 1>died in these bogs or were placed there after their deaths,

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<v Speaker 1>and these bog bodies, as theirre known, have been found

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<v Speaker 1>all over the world. The wetlands of northwestern Europe, for instance,

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<v Speaker 1>is a bog body hub. Hundreds of these corpses have

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<v Speaker 1>turned up in Germany, England, the Netherlands, and neighboring countries.

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<v Speaker 1>In twenty eleven, pete harvesters working in Ireland accidentally ran

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<v Speaker 1>over a Bronze Age corpse with a milling machine. Dubbed

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<v Speaker 1>the cashle Man. The harvester found all that was left

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<v Speaker 1>of an adult male who probably died in his twenties.

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<v Speaker 1>His body was riddled with injuries, including a broken arm

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<v Speaker 1>and a nasty cut across the backside. Some of these

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<v Speaker 1>may have been caused by the compressing weight of the

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<v Speaker 1>bog moss above him or the blades of that milling device. Nevertheless,

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<v Speaker 1>archaeologists have reason to suspect that the casual Man was

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<v Speaker 1>a ritualized sacrifice victim. Other European bog bodies have displayed

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<v Speaker 1>stab wounds, slit throats, and evidence of torture. Historians think

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<v Speaker 1>that the local wetlands were once a hotbed for religious sacrifices.

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<v Speaker 1>Carbon dating tells us the casual Man perished about four

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<v Speaker 1>thousand years ago, seven centuries before King Tuton Common was born.

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<v Speaker 1>To date, he's the oldest European bog body on record

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<v Speaker 1>with intact skin. That's right, the corpse of somebody who's

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<v Speaker 1>been dead for four millennia still has its skin attached.

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<v Speaker 1>And this isn't a fluke. Lots of bog bodies retain

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<v Speaker 1>some or all of their original skin. The talland Man,

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<v Speaker 1>a twenty three hundred year old corpse recovered from a

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<v Speaker 1>Denmark peat bog in nineteen fifty, has skeletonized hands, but

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<v Speaker 1>elsewhere his skin is so well preserved that little details

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<v Speaker 1>like the wrinkles on his forehead are still visible. Although

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<v Speaker 1>the talland Man's skin didn't rot away, the mummification process

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<v Speaker 1>did change its appearance and texture. Like the man and

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<v Speaker 1>lots of other bog bodies, he sports leathery, dark brown skin.

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<v Speaker 1>Some of them also have preserved hair that was dyed

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<v Speaker 1>red after death. This is most likely caused by a

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<v Speaker 1>recently discovered polymer called sphagnin, which seeps out of dead

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<v Speaker 1>sphagnum moss if you think of leather. It's made through

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<v Speaker 1>a process called tanning that strengthens the bonds between some

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<v Speaker 1>of the natural fibers in animal hides. As a tanning agent,

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<v Speaker 1>sphagnin has the same effect on human skin, rendering it

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<v Speaker 1>tough and tea colored. Sphagnin also binds with nitrogen, which

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<v Speaker 1>bacteria need to survive, so by removing nitrogen from the environment,

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<v Speaker 1>spagnin helps prevent the spread of microorganisms that would normally

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<v Speaker 1>be breaking down human and animal remains. And Furthermore, sphagnin,

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<v Speaker 1>along with the acid that it turns into, pulls calcium

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<v Speaker 1>right out of dead bodies. Bones get weakened in the process.

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<v Speaker 1>Although spagnin does a fine job of preserving skin, its

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<v Speaker 1>calcium thievery isn't great for skeletons. Mummies have been found

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<v Speaker 1>in certain bogs with soft, extra flimsy bones that are

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<v Speaker 1>about Astarte's cardboard and that have been distorted by heavy peat.

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<v Speaker 1>But that's assuming the decalcification process doesn't altogether eliminate bones.

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<v Speaker 1>Lots of bog bodies have been found missing bones, and

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<v Speaker 1>some of the mummies are totally boneless. The latter are

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<v Speaker 1>basically human shaped bags of leathery skin wrapped around some

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<v Speaker 1>pickled organs. Not all bogs are so hostile to bones, though.

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<v Speaker 1>The water's acidity level varies from bog to bog, and

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<v Speaker 1>this impacts corpse preservation. Archaeologists have discovered that in really

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<v Speaker 1>acidic peat bogs, the resident mummies have lots of skin

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<v Speaker 1>and soft tissue and weak or non existent bones. But

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<v Speaker 1>there are some boggy places with relatively alkaline water. Here

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<v Speaker 1>the environment pretty much has the opposite effect on corpses.

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<v Speaker 1>A take, for example, the wind Over Archaeological Site, a

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<v Speaker 1>peat bottomed pond in Florida that became the final resting

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<v Speaker 1>place for dozens of Native Americans between seven and eight

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<v Speaker 1>thousand years ago. Skeletal remains from one hundred and sixty

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<v Speaker 1>eight people have turned up in the peat. A large

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<v Speaker 1>deposit of crushed up snail shells lying to the pond

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<v Speaker 1>supplies the water with magnesium and calcium carbonates that makes

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<v Speaker 1>the water more alkaline, neutralizing the sphagnen to an extent.

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<v Speaker 1>Instead of mummified skin bags the bog is rife with

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<v Speaker 1>naked bones and skeletons a bear as they are on

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<v Speaker 1>the outside, the ancient bones had a big surprise in

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<v Speaker 1>store for scientists. Brain tissue was found in more than

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<v Speaker 1>ninety of the windover pond skulls, making them extra fascinating

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<v Speaker 1>fines by the way bonus fact of the episode. Most

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<v Speaker 1>carnivorous plants, such as sundews and pitcher plants grow in

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<v Speaker 1>bog soils, which tend to be nutrient poor. Eating animal

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<v Speaker 1>prey is a strategy that helps them obtain vital nutrients.

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<v Speaker 1>Today's episode is based on the article peat bogs are

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<v Speaker 1>freakishly good of preserving human remains on how stuffworks dot Com.

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<v Speaker 1>Written by Mark Mancini. Brain Stuff its production of I

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<v Speaker 1>Heart Radio in partnership with house stuffworks dot Com and

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<v Speaker 1>is produced by Tyler Klain. For more podcasts my heart Radio,

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<v Speaker 1>visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcast Guests, or wherever you

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<v Speaker 1>listen to your favorite shows.