Chapter 2 Looking Death in the Face Different Attitudes towards Bog Bodies and their Display with a Focus on Lindow

Since the late 1990s there has been an increasing discussion over the ‘rights of the dead’ and the ethics of storing and displaying human remains in British museums, and academics and museum professionals have questioned what should be done with them when they are discovered (e.g. Bahn 1984; Parker Pearson 1999, ch. 8; Swain 2002; Curtis 2003; Sanders 2009, 183–7; Alberti et al. 2009; Sayer 2010, ch. 3). To date, discussions have focused on issues of repatriation and reburial rather than display (Alberti et al. 2009, 133). In this chapter the display of human remains is considered with respect to the well-preserved ancient remains from bogs, generally known as bog bodies. Specifically, this chapter will discuss the remains of an adult male discovered in August 1984 at Lindow Moss, near Wilmslow, Cheshire, who has come to be known as ‘Lindow Man’ (Stead and Turner 1985; Stead 1986 et al.; Turner and Scaife 1995; Joy 2009) (Pl. 1). Although all human remains in museums demand special treatment and should be treated with respect (see DCMS 2005), it is argued here that bog bodies are a special category as they are fleshed. Skeletons or cremated remains usually displayed in museums can be viewed at a distance, one step removed from their humanity as the features of people we recognize in everyday encounters, skin, hair, facial features and wrinkles are not preserved. Bog bodies challenge this separation as their skin and hair have been preserved by the bog and details such as facial features and even finger prints can be eerily prominent. This has the effect of bringing the past into the present as they appear to have been ‘frozen in time’ (Sanders 2009, 220). This is underlined through the creation of facial reconstructions (Pl. 2) (see Prag and Neave 1997), which often feature prominently in bog body displays. Creating facial reconstructions is not an exact science. For example, the accuracy of the facial reconstruction of Lindow Man has been questioned because it was produced solely from radiographs (Wilkinson 2007, 265). However, despite these problems, facial reconstructions can be very powerful images, acting as visual reminders that past peoples were ‘just like us’. As Melanie Giles observes (2009, 78), ‘... it is the appearance of these remains [bog bodies], particularly the faces of the dead, which attract our imagination’. Since they are so well preserved, it is possible to make out facial features and even to read something into the character of the individual – the furrowed brow of Lindow Man or the perceived serenity of the expression on Tollund Man’s face. This creates a very different experience when bog bodies are encountered in museums and they can provoke feelings of fascination as well as distress ( Jones 2007, 23). Indeed, some critics of bog body displays claim they are a kind of ‘pornography of death’, a source of ‘grim fascination’ or ‘morbid voyeurism’ (see Parker Pearson 1999, 183). The unusual recovery contexts of bog bodies and their remarkable level of preservation also mean that the interpretations are richer than usual for archaeological remains. Based on the analysis of preserved skin and hair, as well as internal organs and the surrounding peat, it is Chapter 2 Looking Death in the Face Different Attitudes towards Bog Bodies and their Display with a Focus on Lindow Man