The Handsome Corpse

This is the extremely well-preserved corpse of an old Dane who died from hanging before being dumped into a bog, and that burial place did a lot to keep his serene looks from The Iron Age to the present day. In my opinion, he is beautiful because of that serenity. Being found in Tollund he is a Dane, but these bog bodies also appeared somewhere else in Europe: Germany, the Netherlands, United Kingdom, Sweden, Poland, and Ireland. As to the Tollund Man then it's still possible to discern fingerprints, beard stubbles, as well as amazing facial features and expression. Actually, that's what makes him so stunning.

Was he sacrificed to a god or goddess from the time of his death? That's likely, but there is no indication of his position in the society he lived in. Was he a king or a thrall? Nobody knows for sure, but whoever he was, he must have been brave, as there is no indication that he fought his harsh destiny. Some of the other bog people do exhibit marks of fightings, but those may have been misunderstood, as the sheer pressure of the bogs could injure a corpse. 
 

The Grauballe Man had his throat cut, and he has not kept his looks like the Tollund Man, even though he is considered to be the very best preserved bog corpse in the world. Well, all I can say is that he doesn't have that touching capacity that I find in the Tollund Man. 

This is how the Grauballe Man looked when found, and this is how he is going to look forever, as nobody wants to change that. However, someone made a sculpture from the measurements of his face to reconstruct his looks when alive: 

He looks like someone whom one might see in the streets of the present day Denmark. Not bad for an old guy who have been dead for a very long time. The Tollund Man is supposed to have died 500 B.C., but the Grauballe Man is a bit younger and may have died around 200-300 B.C.. 

The Huldremose Woman also is considered quite well-preserved, and she must have had some kind of status in her society, as she wore a suit of skin and woven wool, which can't have been cheap. Anyway, a rope around her neck indicates that she too was hanged or strangled, although some see it as a kind of necklace. Also, she had severe injuries, especially to an arm, but they seem to stem from before her death.

Actually, cremation was in use at this time period, so the bog corpses must have held special qualities - bad or good - to end up in the bogs. Ideas and suggestions have flourished, but still, there is no real solution to the question: What led to the special burial practice of the bog people?

https://academic.oup.com/book/40283/chapter-abstract/346768615?redirectedFrom=fulltext

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5CQE4c8UJkM&feature=player_embedded 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZHPYmfwUxA

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_bog_bodies 

https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/europe-bog-bodies-reveal-secrets-180962770/ 

Wikipedia