Two 'Frankenstein' bog mummies, made from remains of six people, found in Scotland

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"Frankenstein" Bog Mummies Discovered in Scotland (nationalgeographic.com)
In a "eureka" moment worthy of Dr. Frankenstein, scientists have discovered that two 3,000-year-old Scottish "bog bodies" are actually made from the remains of six people.

According to new isotopic dating and DNA experiments, the mummies—a male and a female—were assembled from various body parts, although the purpose of the gruesome composites is likely lost to history.
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"I think you'd have to go back to a time when the rituals were more bizarre," Terry Brown, a professor of biomedical archaeology at the University of Manchester, said. "You'd have to go back to the mists of unrecorded time."
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The mummies were discovered more than a decade ago below the remnants of 11th-century houses at Cladh Hallan, a prehistoric village on the island of South Uist, off the coast of Scotland.
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much more at the link above

South Uist (Wiki)
 
Argggh gross.

I'm thinking a pre-historic Hannibal the Cannibal...or a Jaime Gumm.

Ew.

For the ghost fanciers...why weren't these victims haunting the hell out of this bog wanting themselves put back together?
 
I don't suppose this is any more bizarre than people of the Middle Ages paying hefty sums for an alleged fragment of the thigh bone of a saint and then carrying it around with them or building an altar on which to display it.
 
I don't suppose this is any more bizarre than people of the Middle Ages paying hefty sums for an alleged fragment of the thigh bone of a saint and then carrying it around with them or building an altar on which to display it.

Like the Shroud of Turin.

Off topic, but people still do stuff like this.

Look at all the people who still flock to Lourdes and other "holy" sites and part with good money to do so.

:please:
 
Like the Shroud of Turin.

Off topic, but people still do stuff like this.

Look at all the people who still flock to Lourdes and other "holy" sites and part with good money to do so.

:please:

While researching an oratorio about purported manifestations of the Virgin Mary, I went on such a pilgrimage to Medjugorje in Bosnia-Herzegovina (where some believe Mary appeared to a group of children on a hill in the early 1980s).

It was worth every penny (even setting aside that I needed info for work). Great people, terrific fellowship, deeply moving sense of spirituality and community. And I am not Catholic (as the other pilgrims were), not Christian, even openly gay. One of the great experiences of my life, actually.
 
I wonder if it's possible they 'mummified' family members together (or would their DNA tests have shown a familial relation?) or if it's possible they combined warriors who fought alongside each others or tribal leaders ... so many thoughts ... this is really interesting!
 
I vaguely remember some possibly native american lore that involved sewing body parts together, but I can't remember what it was. If it was NA, then that would really be interesting for another group of people no way related to the first following the same ritual.

Sounds like they were trying to make a new person or revive one who died, raising the dead so to speak. Maybe body parts from different people were used in order to gain the best attributes of each one. Would be really interesting to find out.

Or like someone else said, maybe it was just an ancient Buffalo Bill or Ed Gein.
 
I wonder if it's possible they 'mummified' family members together (or would their DNA tests have shown a familial relation?) or if it's possible they combined warriors who fought alongside each others or tribal leaders ... so many thoughts ... this is really interesting!

I believe the link says the DNA tests show no familiar relation.
 
There was something that I seem to recall my brother telling me about ancient clans that may have been the basis for the monster in Jeepers Creepers (if anyone remembers that movie.)

That said, people have been curious about death and life for most of the recorded history of humanity. It could be a Frankenstein type creation, not for the horror value, but an ancient civilization or one visionary among them trying to understand what makes a person a person or how to restore life to a body. Granted, it could just as easily be a ritual, or even ancient serial killer.

By the way, I googled the island and the photos are breathtaking. I would take a pilgrimage there for it's beauty alone, regardless of this find. It seems truly mystical, even in a photo on a screen. This seems to me a mystery best left unsolved, but that's just me, and I won't begrudge anyone trying to solve it.
 
I believe the link says the DNA tests show no familiar relation.

Interesting I would assume some relation. I guess because I thought populations were smaller and isolated .

I did read they were buried 300 to 600 years after their death so I wondered if they were scattered remains that were found in a pile and sorted to make two full bodies ,verses a pile of bones. Like an unearth burial sight that was dug up or unearthed.
 
Interesting I would assume some relation. I guess because I thought populations were smaller and isolated .

I did read they were buried 300 to 600 years after their death so I wondered if they were scattered remains that were found in a pile and sorted to make two full bodies ,verses a pile of bones. Like an unearth burial sight that was dug up or unearthed.

I lean towards a new religion (Christianity?) replacing an old religion leading to the burial 300-600 years after death. I'm just guessing that the compilation of people was an ancient rite.
 
I lean towards a new religion (Christianity?) replacing an old religion leading to the burial 300-600 years after death. I'm just guessing that the compilation of people was an ancient rite.
Christianity came to the Hebrides sometime between the seventh and eighth centuries, long after the bodies had lain wherever they originally were located. 2400 to 2700 years, I guess it'd be. I'm trying to think of a reason why early Christians might pack several sets of remains into two graves, dividing them so that the result was two bog mummies.
 
I wonder if it's possible they 'mummified' family members together (or would their DNA tests have shown a familial relation?) or if it's possible they combined warriors who fought alongside each others or tribal leaders ... so many thoughts ... this is really interesting!

I think they created them so they could use the HOV lane.
 
While researching an oratorio about purported manifestations of the Virgin Mary, I went on such a pilgrimage to Medjugorje in Bosnia-Herzegovina (where some believe Mary appeared to a group of children on a hill in the early 1980s).

It was worth every penny (even setting aside that I needed info for work). Great people, terrific fellowship, deeply moving sense of spirituality and community. And I am not Catholic (as the other pilgrims were), not Christian, even openly gay. One of the great experiences of my life, actually.

I just wanted to elaborate on my thanks, Nova. I always enjoy your posts, and want to say a sincere thank you for sharing and being so open. You touched on several points that cannot be assigned a monetary value. Sometimes the things we do, and must pay to do, have a benefit that cannot be measured by money, but is real and lasting in our lives.
 

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