Thursday, July 12, 2007

The Bogman Versus Hamlet

As the Danish train travelled from Aalborg to Arhus, we grew excited. We saw definite evidence of bogs.

We reacherd our destination and found a great apartment that looked a bit like an ad for Ikea (except that is Swedish). We had a quick cuppa and off on the bus to Moesgard Manor, the address for the Bogman.

As we entered the Museum, we made our way through the Iron Age Exhibits then rounded a corner. The sign said Grauballe Man and we rushed for our first sighting. It was confirmed. The Bogman had beaten Hamlet.

Grauballe Man is the world's best preserved bog man. He was found in 1952, 55 km west of Arhus. He was so well preserved that his hair, his beard stubble, fingernails, fingerprints and even his skin pores were clearly visible. They carried out a post mortem and it confirmed that he was dead - for at least 2000 years, had been 34 years old had a tooth ache and had cereal gruel for his last meal. he died a brutal death with his throat cut ear to ear - and thrown into the bog as a ritual sacrifice.

It was outstanding. We might have missed out on Hamlet's castle but we had seen one of the most remarkable sights - as impressive as the Egyptian mummies.

We made our way back to Arhus, Denmark's second largest city and they think it is the oldest, felling very contented.

3 comments:

Miss Di said...

Sounds fascinating. Were you allowed totake photos?
Hope you had something better for breakfast than gruel!
Matt wants to know if you went to Tivoli Gardens as he has fond memories of watching the fireworks there about 30 years ago!

theotherbear said...

That sounds fascinating. I think the bogman might be related to the boogyman.

gailandrob said...

We have some photos of the bogman but we are considering selling copies to defray the cost of travel.

Tivoli Gardens appears to be nothing more than an Amusement Park for kids. it has all the thrill rides that you would expect. The fireworks are on Saturday night so we missed them.