Posted on 07/04/2005 9:23:39 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Working with the preserved bodies found in bogs throughout Europe has led to a branch of forensic research that could be on a TV show.
"It's like 'B.S.I.,' really: Bog Scene Investigation," says archaeologist Sandra Olsen, making a parallel reference to the popular crime show, "C.S.I.," that deals with crime scene investigations.
The curator of the section of anthropology at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History will give two talks during the exhibit of "The Mysterious Bog People."
Both will examine how modern scientific methods are enabling researchers to find out more about the bog people than they could have in the past.
She also points out how several other programs during the display will deal with forensic science and how it works.
One element of the "Bog People" display will bear the "B.S.I." title, Olsen says. It will use students from Duquesne University's forensic science program acting as "docents" to explain scientific technique, she adds.
Olsen says the biggest research advantage in bog studies is the preservative quality the bogs themselves. The moist medium works great for preserving "soft tissue," she says, but not all bones. That means some of the bodies are "like collapsed leather bags." But inside those bags are remains of edibles and even at times mistletoe, that she says may have been used as a sedative to drug bog residents who were chosen for sacrifice or punishment.
Modern scientific techniques also have allowed for facial reproduction. That can have some element of "conjecture," she says, but they are more accurate than those of the past.
Olsen says reconstruction currently is done by making computer creations that match the shapes of skulls, which are heavier than many other bones and are more frequently found well-preserved.
(Excerpt) Read more at pittsburghlive.com ...
It was a strange coffin for a 2,000-year-old teenager. Sitting on the floor at an exhibit hall in Oakland's Carnegie Museum of Natural History, the box looked like something you'd find after a visit from FedEx. When workers cut through and pulled away the brown paper covering, however, the shipment was far from ordinary.
There, delicately taped to prevent any kind of movement, was a tiny skull, a lethal cord wrapped around the neck and a collection of some of the teen's bones.
It was the arrival of the "Yde Girl," one of the most famous of "The Mysterious Bog People" who will begin their seven-month stay at the museum Saturday.
"Yde" -- pronounced "ee-duh" -- has grown to be one of the most familiar of the seven bog bodies in the display because of a facial reconstruction that presents the image of a young, blue-eyed girl with shoulder-length blond hair.
Sandra Olsen, curator of the section of anthropology at the museum, is pulled almost magnetically to "Yde."
Olsen is fascinated by the "teeny feet," as she calls them, and the skull, which was picked nearly clean of teeth and hair when "Yde" was found in 1897.
Olsen mentions several times how this show, making its debut in the United States here, is more than just a "grisly" look at bodies, some thousands of years old. But she understands how the well preserved remains are tantalizing.
Yet, there is a bigger story, says Olsen, who is acting as an organizational link between the museum and the touring exhibit, mapping out ancillary programs and offering several talks herself.
"It tells the whole story of the spread of Indo-European civilization," she says. "In it, you can see how certain features grew in importance, how people lived, even what they ate."
Parade through the bog
The Carnegie Museum is one of three planned display spots in the U.S. for the touring exploration of 10,000 years of rituals and sacrifice in northwestern Europe. It is the only one in the eastern part of the country.
It will head to Los Angeles when it finishes here in January 2006, probably opening there in March, says museum spokesperson Dan Lagiovane. Then it will go to Milwaukee.
The display was put together by the Niedersachsisches Landesmuseum in Hanover, Germany; the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Gatineau, Ottawa; the Glenbow Museum in Calgary, Alberta, Canada; and the Drents Museum, in Assen, Netherlands.
The title and the "stars" of the show are the somewhat creepy bodies preserved in swamp-like peat bogs filled with tannic acid. The chemical nature of the bogs sometimes changes colors of hair and clothing, but helps in preservation.
But the exhibit also includes:
A recreated bog through which visitors will walk to see where remains were found.
A series of wall-size paintings showing the spread of civilization across Europe and how artifacts would be related to it.
400 artifacts never before displayed in the United States.
One of the oldest known wheels in Europe, dating to 2700 B.C.
Ceremonial wind instruments from 2000 to 700 B.C. The dimly lit peat-like alley of the simulated bog bears the creepiness of the bodies themselves.
But Jim Senior, exhibits chair at the museum, says the darkness is only partly mood-oriented.
"We're trying to protect the bodies and the artifacts from the harsh effects of light," he says.
The route to violence
While this display focuses on findings from the Netherlands, hundreds of bog bodies have been found throughout continental Europe and in the British Isles, offering a variety of knowledge, Olsen says.
The bodies and items were preserved because of the cool climate of the dank, foggy region where the people lived.
Bodies in Britain often were found in drier bog areas known as fens, which preserve bones much better that the bogs of the Netherlands or Germany. That allows researchers to hunt for clues to ailments such as osteoporosis and arthritis, Olsen says.
Violence often was part of bog life, she says. Many bog mummies are victims of brutal deaths and researchers are trying to determine whether those deaths were inflicted as punishment or ritual sacrifice.
Many times, she says, the people were killed in several ways. The throat was slit and then the victim was strangled, as a way of being certain the job was done.
The bodies then were put into the bogs, where the water was seen as "a conduit to the afterlife," she says.
Olsen points out bog-side violence often took place along trackways that became the routes of commerce, migration or invasion. The trackways also became the place of battles and often a watercraft meant to be used as a military tool would wind up in the bog. It would be sunk when it was captured.
"It was a way of thanking the gods for victory," Olsen says.
Besides the fascinating human remains found in the bogs, Olsen points to the hoards of items she and researchers believe were offered as bits of worship.
During the Bronze Age from 2000 to 700 B.C., she says, European man started developing more established settlements built around herding and agriculture. Because a steady climate without natural disaster was needed, settlers began making offerings to their deities.
Among the goods offered to the gods were wheels, animal antlers, pottery, weapons, even boats, she says.
The offerings draw a line from the thoughts of early man to those of current day, she says.
"Why do we have shrines, or Notre Dame, or why do we make offerings to our churches today?" she says.
Research may have discovered a great deal of information about the bog people, but their violent lives and their level of spirituality is the subject of constant study, Olsen says.
"I've been here since '91," she says, "and for me this is the most exciting exhibit we've ever had."
Exhibit-related special events
"The Mysterious Bog People" will be the source of a number of special programs in the exhibit's seven-month stay at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Oakland. Unless otherwise indicated, the events are free with admission.
Saturday: Pennsylvania State Police from the criminal investigation assessment and cold case units discuss forensic work; 11 a.m. on the third-floor balcony.
Saturday: Sandra Olsen from the museum discusses "Appeasing the Gods: Ancient Sacrifice and the Reasons Behind It"; 1 p.m. in the Carnegie Lecture Hall.
Saturday: Wire-weaving jewelry demonstration with Helene Jacobs from Community College of Allegheny County and the Society for Creative Anachronism; 2 p.m. on the third-floor balcony.
July 18-22 and Aug. 15-19: "Night of the Bog People," a week-long, day camp program explores bog life and death in many ways; for youths 11 through 13; $175 for members and $195 for nonmembers.
Sept. 10: Lecture on outdoor crime scenes, forensic anthropology and the investigation of the recently deceased by Dennis Dirkmaat from Mercyhurst College in Erie; 1 p.m. in the Carnegie Lecture Hall.
Sept. 13 and 19: An investigation of bog body cases, punishment and sacrifice by Sandra Olsen; 10:30 to 2:30 p.m,. in the CMA Theater, $30. 412-622-3288.
Oct. 1: Lecture on bog bodies in Florida by Lee Newsom from Pennsylvania State University; 1 p.m. in Carnegie Lecture Hall
Nov. 5: Lecture on clothing on bog bodies by Irene Good from Harvard University; 1 p.m. in Carnegie Lecture Hall.
Dec. 3: Lecture on the killing of Russia's Czar Nicholas II by Victor Weedn from Duquesne University; 1 p.m. in Carnegie Lecture Hall.
Dec. 10: Wire weaving jewelry workshop with Helene Jacobs; 10:30 to 3 p.m. $40. 412-622-3288.
Other features:
"Moorscapes: A Vanishing Legacy": a display of 50 photographs of the bogs by German artist Wolfgang Bartels. Included in the display area and free with admission.
Free family workshops: On Bronze Age jewelry: 2-4 p.m. Fridays and Saturdays, Saturday through Aug. 13; 2-4 p.m. Saturdays Aug. 20 through Dec. 17.
Bog science investigation: Open during regular museum hours.
Discovery room: Tuesdays through Sundays; check for hours at museum.
Overnights for children: Sept. 29, Oct. 28 and Dec. 2.
Skull Wars: The Ethics of Human Remains: Check daily for times.
During the Bronze Age from 2000 to 700 B.C., she says, European man started developing more established settlements built around herding and agriculture. Because a steady climate without natural disaster was needed, settlers began making offerings to their deities.
Among the goods offered to the gods were wheels, animal antlers, pottery, weapons, even boats, she says.
The offerings draw a line from the thoughts of early man to those of current day, she says.
"Why do we have shrines, or Notre Dame, or why do we make offerings to our churches today?" she says.
These statements are more telling of Olson's view of religion than explaining the reasons bodies and things are found in the bogs. This is not science. It's indoctrination.
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This is cool stuff. My friend Nancy is working this tour at the museum.
I think you're reading more into those statements than is actually there.
I read "Bong Scene Investigation" and expected a WoD fight to ensue.
"I think you're reading more into those statements than is actually there."
Nah, it's there. It's everywhere.
I took a "guided" tour of Arlington; by the end, I had the distinct impression that only black people were buried there.
Remember the Enola Gay exhibit at the Smithsonian?
The anointed elites who work at the museum consider it their mission to enlighten the unwashed masses: which is to say propagandize them with liberal crap.
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