| Bocksten Man Human Mummy | |
| |
| Biographical Information | |
|---|---|
| Name(s) | Bocksten Man |
| Age | 30-40 |
| Sex | Male |
| Status | Prosperous |
| Height | 170-180 cm |
| Source | |
| Culture | Swedish |
| Date(s) | 1290-1430 CE |
| Site | Bog close to the borders of the Himle and Faurås Hundreds |
| Current Location | |
| Location | Halland Museum of Cultural History |
| Catalog # | |
Bocksten Man was discovered in a peat bog on a farm named Bocksten in Varberg Municipality, Sweden, on the 22 June 1936. He died wearing a cloak, preserved in relatively good condition, tunic/cote, a hood, woolen hose, and leather shoes. The clothing suggests that he was a person of high social standing.
Mummification[]
Bocksten Man is thought to have been murdered and knocked into the lake bed that would become a bog. Parts of his lungs, liver, brain, and cartilage are preserved. His clothes are also extremely well preserved allowing researchers to distinguish symbols found on the fabrics he was wearing.
Studies[]
Radiocarbon dating gives a 95 percent likelihood of a date between AD 1290 and 1430.
Facial reconstruction of Bocksten Man
He might have been deliberately killed by being struck three times on the head, then pushed into a peat bog and impaled with three wooden poles. It has been suggested that these injuries, caused his death.
It has also been suggested that Bocksten Man had died a natural death, and that the injuries to his head were post mortem.
Pathology[]
Evidence indicates that Bocksten man died when he 28 to 36 years old. He was not well muscled and therefore thought to be of the upper or merchant class rather than a laborer or farmer.
Additional[]
There is some dispute on what the man's social background was. The hood the body was found with was usually worn by more prosperous classes, and it was thought that he was a tax collector or a soldier recruit. But that type of hood was also used within the church. Due to his hood and a symbol on a shield-shaped pendant it's also believed that the man belonged to the Ordo Sanctus Spiritus.
External Links[]
https://www.world-archaeology.com/world/europe/sweden/swedish-bocksten-man-brought-to-life/