Under the Skin: Norwegian Bog Skeletons and Perceptions of Personhood, Value, and Sacrifice

Abstract

The authors set a relatively small and little-known corpus of human remains recovered from Iron Age wetland contexts in Norway in a wider theoretical framework of sacrifice and personhood. The material studied, fragmentary skeletal remains in wetland contexts, juxtaposed with the better-known bog body tradition of northern Europe, offers a base from which to query constructions and perceptions of personhood. Situating the discussion in a contextual framework and relational underpinnings of ways of being, the authors examine whether or not the assumption that personhood rests in a human body can be implicitly inferred when confronted with ancient human remains, and what this may imply for interpretations of human bodies in votive settings.

Bogged Down

“…Once the bog bodies have arrived at the laboratory, one of the first procedures is establishing a date range utilizing radiocarbon dating (Nielsen et al 2020). Establishing a timeline of when the bodies were interred is crucial, as it offers clues about the cultural background (Moen et al 2022). These clues can encompass information such as cultural beliefs, diets, gender roles, societal patterns, and mortuary practices, which can be inferred from written and oral histories, as well as other archaeological finds dating to the same time period (Moen et al 2022).…”

“…Establishing a timeline of when the bodies were interred is crucial, as it offers clues about the cultural background (Moen et al 2022). These clues can encompass information such as cultural beliefs, diets, gender roles, societal patterns, and mortuary practices, which can be inferred from written and oral histories, as well as other archaeological finds dating to the same time period (Moen et al 2022). Northern European bog bodies such as Yde Girl have almost all been dated exclusively to the Iron Age (Kelly 2006).…”

“…People may have regarded an individual who was physically different from their peers as being favoured by the gods, making them a sacrifice of great value (Nielsen et al 2020). Similarly, sacrifices of parts of a body may have also been viewed as equal to or greater than the value of a whole body being offered (Moen & Walsh 2022).…”