Summary

In the subsection “Bog Bodies,” the author gives a short overview of human bodies found in bogs. Much of the historical speculation about these bodies is factually inaccurate, and there is ample evidence to suggest that bogs have been used as ritualistic burial grounds since ancient times. It is plausible that many cultures offered humans as sacrifices to the gods that governed the boglands. Unlike fenlands, bogs preserve human flesh but the skeletons are dissolved by sphagnan, a digestive enzyme in sphagnum moss. This gives the specimens an eerie appearance, but preserves small details of the bodies, like fingerprints.

The survey of bog bodies throughout time indicates that humans are unable to read the past except through their own cultural lens. This has caused a historical picture that is far from accurate. The narrator offers a personal anecdote that changed her understanding of...