I see dead people: preserved bodies around the world

Aug 9, 2010 5:22:17 AM

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So much of travel is about coming face to face with history – literally, in some cases. Introducing six folks who’ve been preserved – through accident or intent – for us to meet hundreds (and thousands) of years later.

1. Tollund Man, Jutland, Denmark

Forget cryogenics, a bog is the best bet if you want to keep hold of your youthful looks. Tollund Man has a complexion that’s still as smooth as the day he was garrotted and tossed in a bog. Sure, he may be a bit leathery and distorted these days, but 2000 years in a bog in Silkeborg, Denmark will do that to you.

Tollund Man is the main (and almost only) attraction at the Silkeborg Museum. He’s believed to have been executed in 300 BC and his body, complete with the rope still around the neck, was discovered in a bog in 1950. The face of the Tollund Man is hypnotic in its detail, right down to the stubble on his chin.

2. Bocksten Man, Varberg, Sweden

Varberg lies by the side of a 60km stretch of beautiful white-sand beaches: its population triples in the summer months. The town’s darker side includes a medieval fortress that, with its superb museum, is Varberg’s star attraction. In-house oddities include the poor old Bocksten Man, dug out of a peat bog at Åkulle in 1936. His 14th-century costume is the most perfectly preserved medieval clothing in Europe.

4. Ginger, London

Ginger is one of the stars of the British Museum. He’s the oldest and most famous fossilised human form, lying in the foetal position in a sandy pit that’s been reconstructed to look like the one in which he was preserved. He was named for the straggly remains of his ginger hair, but his skin is remarkably ginger too.

4. Juanita the Ice Maiden, Arequipa, Peru

A visit to Museo Santury (officially called the Museo de la Universidad Católica de Santa Maríain) in Peru’s second-largest city will bring you face to face with the icy Inca mummies.

This museum exhibits the frozen body of ‘Juanita, the ice maiden’ – sacrificed on the summit of Nevado Ampato over 500 years ago. Tours consist of a video, an examination of burial artifacts, then a respectful viewing of the frozen mummy preserved in a carefully monitored glass-walled exhibition freezer. Juanita is not on display from January to April – another child sacrifice discovered in the mountains around Arequipa takes her place. Only guided visits are permitted and the whole spectacle is done in a respectful, non-ghoulish manner.

5. Lenin, Moscow

Red Square is home to the world’s most famous mummy, that of Vladimir Lenin. When he died of a massive stroke (on 22 January 1924, aged 53), a long line of mourners patiently gathered and waited for weeks in the harsh winter for a glimpse of the body as it lay in state. Inspired by the spectacle, Stalin proposed Lenin’s corpse should be preserved for perpetuity, despite the vehement protests of his widow as well as Lenin’s wish to be buried next to his mother in St Petersburg.

Every so often, politicians express intentions to heed Lenin’s request and bury him in St Petersburg, but it usually sets off a furore from the political left as well as more muted objections from Moscow tour operators. It seems that the mausoleum, the most sacred shrine of Soviet communism, and the mummy, the literal embodiment of the Russian revolution, will remain in place for at least several more years.

6. Mummified monk, Ko Samui, Thailand

One man’s ‘remarkably well preserved’ is another man’s creepy corpse. On Ko Samui, at Wat Khunaram, a venerated monk who died over 30 years ago still sits in his saffron robes. His flesh is grey and crumbling and he wears a pair of sunglasses to hide his hollow eyes. Yikes.

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Comments

24 August 2010 4:53PM journeyingjames Report this comment
the mummies of Kabayan, Benguet, PH is not on the list? How can this be?
26 October 2010 4:12PM gbut Report this comment
Kabayan Mummies, Benguet, Philippines http://madnomad.com/0302_benguet/
26 October 2010 5:12PM noelenglish Report this comment
Ho Chi Minh - Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
26 October 2010 11:20PM charlottemolstad Report this comment
Saint Roselyne, Provence, France. She's been around since the 1329, and her birthdayparty is still every year around the 17th of January. Her party is 1st sunday in August. Chapelle is open every day though and houses a beautiful Chagall mosaique. Wineyard and tastings next door.
http://www.sainte-roseline.com/historique/chapelleetcloitre.php?LangueSite=fr
27 October 2010 1:15AM sloebertje Report this comment
There is a whole museum of mummified people in Guanajuato, Mexico.
27 October 2010 7:07AM jaylee33 Report this comment
Let's not forget the Fragonard d'Alfort Museum in Paris. The bodies there were preserved anatomically & artistically for display centuries before the "Bodies" exhibit made the rounds. They still haven't figured out 100% how Fragonard preserved them, either. It's a neat (if not weird) little out-of-the-way museum of medical and animal curiousities, for the next time you're in Paris and feeling a bit droll.
27 October 2010 1:13PM lozza26 Report this comment
The mummies in the vault at St Michan's in Dublin are well worth a visit. A cheap and kooky little tour on the north side of the Liffey!
27 October 2010 9:22PM doroist Report this comment
What about famous Ötzi, the Iceman? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%96tzi_the_Iceman And the Capuchin Catacombs of Palermo? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capuchin_catacombs_of_Palermo Or maybe the 'Heart Crypt' in Vienna? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Herzgruft_%28Vienna%29
28 October 2010 2:20AM anotheropinion Report this comment
Hey noelenglish, Ho Chi Minh rests in Hanoi, not in Ho Chi Minh City. I've seen his body.
29 October 2010 6:49AM kunmingirl Report this comment
while travelling in china (where there's a jolly old mummy on exhibit in changsha, armpit of the universe) we met a guy who was travelling around the world seeing preserved dead dictators. everyone needs a hobby.