Scientists say that by examining more than a thousand ancient swamps in Europe, they have discovered new secrets of swamp mummies that are up to 7,000 years old.

In their comprehensive study, the scientists examined these bogs, which were located at 266 historical sites across northern Europe, from Ireland to the Baltic states.

In this study, which was attended by a team of Dutch, Swedish and Estonian researchers, the ancient history of these swamp burials was investigated from the time of their appearance in 5200 BC during the Neolithic period to the Iron Age and then the Middle Ages in 1500 AD.

Van Beek, an archaeologist at Wageningen University in the Netherlands, says that most swamp mummies found so far show signs of multiple traumatic injuries and are believed to be homicide victims.

For example, the nearly intact body of a woman who had contracted herself was discovered in 1897 in an ancient swamp in the Netherlands. The discoverer, who was a mine worker, was so surprised by the healthy and blackened appearance of the body that he thought the devil had come out of the hole in the ground, and that’s why he ran away.

The woman was wearing a woolen cloak and a knife wound was visible near her collarbone. A cloth strip 2 meters long was also wrapped three times around his neck. Researchers believe that this cloth was probably used to suffocate him.

Scientists say that of the 57 swamp people they studied, at least 45 were killed violently, and a few were beaten or mutilated before death.

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The 5th century BC Tollund Man, found in a peat bog in Denmark in 1950, was a victim of the same violence and researchers say he was hanged. Traces of a bone arrowhead are also found in the skull and sternum of a man recovered from another bog in Denmark.

In one case, the Danish bog of Alken Ange is estimated to contain the disintegrated remains of more than 380 ancient warriors killed in a brutal battle in the 1st century BC. Researchers believe that the dead were taken out of the battlefield and thrown into the swamp with their personal weapons and ornaments.

In the past, it was not known why the hair and soft tissue of swamp mummies were preserved as they were. Scientists now say that the corpses owe their healthy condition to the natural chemical compounds of the swamps. Layers of sphagnum moss and mud from decaying leaves and plants (aka peat) help keep the corpse healthy by circulating it in a cold, motionless environment that is highly acidic and almost oxygen-free.

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In fact, decaying mosses release humic acids and sphagnan. These acids make life difficult for the microorganisms that normally cause decay. Sphagnan also leaches calcium from bones and eventually causes them to soften, bend and warp.

Swamp mummies are usually found in peat bogs that are about ten meters deep.

Although swamp mummies are now preserved in museums, they were given a therapeutic role in the past centuries. In Holland in the late 18th century, four bog corpses were ground up and their powder was sold to people as medicine.

Scientists still don’t know exactly why the swamp mummies were killed. Some speculate that they may be ritual victims during natural disasters such as famine. Research has shown that most of the victims were in their teens and had a severe movement disorder at the same time.

The growth of swamps began about 10,000 years ago with the collapse of the Eurasian ice sheet and the overflow of freshwater, which resulted in a sudden rise in sea levels and groundwater levels. As a result, the decomposition of plants in these areas decreased to such an extent that dead vegetation accumulated to form peat. Now these ancient marshy areas in Europe are mostly under the environmental protection of countries.