In Europe, ancient bodies are sometimes found that are well preserved in swamp areas. In recent research, they may be the remains of ritual human sacrifice or sacrifice, which was carried out more than 5,000 years ago.
So initially, researchers in Denmark carried out excavations in the Edegal region after finding a femur sticking out of the mud. After digging further, they found almost all of the bones of both legs, pelvis and jaws.
The researchers concluded it was a bog body, referring to dozens of male remains previously found in bogs in Europe. Many of the bodies are still preserved even though they are thousands of years old, because the swamp environment, which lacks oxygen and acids, makes it difficult for bacteria to survive.
As quoted by us from Science Alert, Tuesday (10/1/2022) marshlands were considered important for ancient humans in Northern Europe, among whom they considered them as a gateway between the human world and the world of God.
So, according to scientists, the swamp mummy is probably the result of a ritual sacrifice to the Almighty in the past. In excavations at Edegal, there were remains of axes, animal bones and ceramics.
Well, those objects might also be part of a ritual ceremony. According to Emil Winher Struve, one of the researchers, the ax was not used after research, so it was not used as a weapon to kill.
"The find fits well with proven traditions of burial of objects, people and animals here that existed here in ancient times, were widespread throughout ancient times, and it is likely that these skeletons were also victims of such rituals," Struve said.