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The bog man from Bocksten, Sweden
- Thread starter EdgePal
- Start date
Gyes,
about hat-knifes and the man from Bocksten.
The museum in Varberg have no hurry to translate the information about the man from Bocsten, so, I give it a try. My English is limited as you knew so forgive me all the wrong spelling and the wrong sentence. I knew that I a writing more in Swedish then in English.
The man from Bocksten is a well preserved body from about 1300 who was found 1936 in a blog beside the farm Bocksten in parish Halland on the west coast of Sweden, about 25 kilometers east of the city Varberg.
The man from Bocsten was about 25- 35 years old and he was murdered and put in a blog and three wooden poles was put thru his body. Why this was done was perhaps to stop him come back as a ghost, or, perhaps to nail the body secure under the water in the blog, so that no one can find him. One pole of oak and two was birch poles (or sticks). The poles go thru his hart and his lungs.
The acid in the blog preserve the Man from Bocksten very well, his complete skeleton was there, his hair (copper red), his brain, stomach, lungs and some of his skin was preserved. His costume was nearly perfectly preserved, se the link down on the side.
He has a wound on the right side of his skull, 8 cm long and 5 cm wide and his forehead have a small impact. This wounds can have probably been made after he was killed.
Just beside him was a piece of rope. This can indicate that he was hanged or strangled but there is no evidence about that. From was left of the body, we can today not say how he was murdered.
His costume was very well preserved, he have a belt and two knifes. One of the knifes was some cm away from the body.
As we speak the man from Bocksten is going thru a forensic study. The meaning is to reconstruct his face and his body and dress him in his costume again. The face will be reconstructed by scientists.
Also DNA testing will be made and they try to study his hair, nails and teeth to try find out where he was living, from what parish, or village he come from. It is a real and great forensic trail. From his hair they probably can se when he died, on the spring, summer or other part of the year. They can se if he was eat muck meat, much fish or much bread, this can help to find the area where hi lived. The DNA perhaps can make it possible to find living relatives today?
His bones shapes can tell if he was a working man with big muscles or not, and the shape also tells how tall he was, if he was slim or not.
I have told you about his knifes earlier and I have not get any photos from the museum in Varberg. I shall probably travel to the area during this winter and, if I have the time for it, try to visit the museum and try to take some photos of his knifes and their sheaths. If that is possible, I report to this forum later on.
It is exiting was happened to the man from Bocksten just now. We are getting more information about him, perhaps where he was living and so on. Was he a Swede or did he come from Denmark? Was he a tax collector or a noble man, a priest or something else? Perhaps we get the answer on that during 2006. I send you anyway a photo of him (the reconstruction of him) when it is ready.
The costume tells us that he probably was from the upper side of the society. The costume is well made and probably expensive. Not fancy or beautiful, just perfect for travelers on that time, they protect his body very well from cold whether.
The museum of Varberg is located to a old castle who was built by a Danish noble man in the beginning of the year 1300, count Jacob of northern Halland.
This man built three castels during his life, this castle in Varberg (of stone) a small wooden castle some miles north and one big stone castle north of the city Goteborg, the Bohus castle in the city of Kungalv.
I have study the Bohus Castle for many years and is working on a book of Bohus Castle.
Bohus castle was built 1308 and was in use for about 500 years. During those years Bohus was in war 14 times and Bohus was never taken. Bohus is still standing there. It is a ruin today but very well preserved, you can walk in to houses, inside walls, se the battery places and Bohus is big, very big.
If your forefathers come from Sweden or Norway, you also have some of your forefathers buried around Bohus, inside the walls or outside the walls, died in battle, executed as thieves or burned as witches.
When I was studying Bohus a must learn about artillery during those years and how the artillery developed during the years and how Bohus was rebuilt to stand for the new artillery. The castles was always rebuilt to stand the artillery of the time. I was also forced to study all types of weapons they used for fighting, blank weapons as swords, knifes, bayonets, spears, arrows, bows and crossbows. This to understand why Bohus was built in a specific way for defense against this weapons during wartimes, and how this weapons was used during fights. It was interesting and learn me a lot of blank weapons from this time.
Perhaps this is the wrong forum for Bohus Castle but architecture in castles is interesting for those who is interested in knifes and so on. For example, a stairway was always in a curve and it was always goes to the right. This because if the enemy was coming up the stairs he must show his body before he can use his weapon. (most people was right handed). The defenders can use their weapons down the stairs and hold their bodys protected behind the curved wall.
So, blank weapons was the reason for the way to build stairs in a castles. I think this is interesting. The castles, in all ways, was built and constructed to stands for all types of weapons, artillery from distance, arrows and rife fire from closer distances, spears from throwing distances, swords, bayonets and knifes in close fighting, they should stand mortar fire, catapult fire, also when the catapult throwing in dead bodys of horses and men, fire or infected latrine (chemical warfare). All this was use against them, and more.
The doors in Bohus have a defending wall to the right. The enemy was, in the early days of Bohus (before the artillery) then forced to carry the shield with the right arm to protect them selfs from the defenders on the wall, they was forced to carry their weapons with the left hand instead of the right hand, that make them easier to kill in a fight close to the door.
So, swords, daggers and knifes was the reason to this type of architecture.
The Bocksteen blog man his cloths
http://www.personal.utulsa.edu/~marc-carlson/cloth/bockback.html
Thomas
about hat-knifes and the man from Bocksten.
The museum in Varberg have no hurry to translate the information about the man from Bocsten, so, I give it a try. My English is limited as you knew so forgive me all the wrong spelling and the wrong sentence. I knew that I a writing more in Swedish then in English.
The man from Bocksten is a well preserved body from about 1300 who was found 1936 in a blog beside the farm Bocksten in parish Halland on the west coast of Sweden, about 25 kilometers east of the city Varberg.
The man from Bocsten was about 25- 35 years old and he was murdered and put in a blog and three wooden poles was put thru his body. Why this was done was perhaps to stop him come back as a ghost, or, perhaps to nail the body secure under the water in the blog, so that no one can find him. One pole of oak and two was birch poles (or sticks). The poles go thru his hart and his lungs.
The acid in the blog preserve the Man from Bocksten very well, his complete skeleton was there, his hair (copper red), his brain, stomach, lungs and some of his skin was preserved. His costume was nearly perfectly preserved, se the link down on the side.
He has a wound on the right side of his skull, 8 cm long and 5 cm wide and his forehead have a small impact. This wounds can have probably been made after he was killed.
Just beside him was a piece of rope. This can indicate that he was hanged or strangled but there is no evidence about that. From was left of the body, we can today not say how he was murdered.
His costume was very well preserved, he have a belt and two knifes. One of the knifes was some cm away from the body.
As we speak the man from Bocksten is going thru a forensic study. The meaning is to reconstruct his face and his body and dress him in his costume again. The face will be reconstructed by scientists.
Also DNA testing will be made and they try to study his hair, nails and teeth to try find out where he was living, from what parish, or village he come from. It is a real and great forensic trail. From his hair they probably can se when he died, on the spring, summer or other part of the year. They can se if he was eat muck meat, much fish or much bread, this can help to find the area where hi lived. The DNA perhaps can make it possible to find living relatives today?
His bones shapes can tell if he was a working man with big muscles or not, and the shape also tells how tall he was, if he was slim or not.
I have told you about his knifes earlier and I have not get any photos from the museum in Varberg. I shall probably travel to the area during this winter and, if I have the time for it, try to visit the museum and try to take some photos of his knifes and their sheaths. If that is possible, I report to this forum later on.
It is exiting was happened to the man from Bocksten just now. We are getting more information about him, perhaps where he was living and so on. Was he a Swede or did he come from Denmark? Was he a tax collector or a noble man, a priest or something else? Perhaps we get the answer on that during 2006. I send you anyway a photo of him (the reconstruction of him) when it is ready.
The costume tells us that he probably was from the upper side of the society. The costume is well made and probably expensive. Not fancy or beautiful, just perfect for travelers on that time, they protect his body very well from cold whether.
The museum of Varberg is located to a old castle who was built by a Danish noble man in the beginning of the year 1300, count Jacob of northern Halland.
This man built three castels during his life, this castle in Varberg (of stone) a small wooden castle some miles north and one big stone castle north of the city Goteborg, the Bohus castle in the city of Kungalv.
I have study the Bohus Castle for many years and is working on a book of Bohus Castle.
Bohus castle was built 1308 and was in use for about 500 years. During those years Bohus was in war 14 times and Bohus was never taken. Bohus is still standing there. It is a ruin today but very well preserved, you can walk in to houses, inside walls, se the battery places and Bohus is big, very big.
If your forefathers come from Sweden or Norway, you also have some of your forefathers buried around Bohus, inside the walls or outside the walls, died in battle, executed as thieves or burned as witches.
When I was studying Bohus a must learn about artillery during those years and how the artillery developed during the years and how Bohus was rebuilt to stand for the new artillery. The castles was always rebuilt to stand the artillery of the time. I was also forced to study all types of weapons they used for fighting, blank weapons as swords, knifes, bayonets, spears, arrows, bows and crossbows. This to understand why Bohus was built in a specific way for defense against this weapons during wartimes, and how this weapons was used during fights. It was interesting and learn me a lot of blank weapons from this time.
Perhaps this is the wrong forum for Bohus Castle but architecture in castles is interesting for those who is interested in knifes and so on. For example, a stairway was always in a curve and it was always goes to the right. This because if the enemy was coming up the stairs he must show his body before he can use his weapon. (most people was right handed). The defenders can use their weapons down the stairs and hold their bodys protected behind the curved wall.
So, blank weapons was the reason for the way to build stairs in a castles. I think this is interesting. The castles, in all ways, was built and constructed to stands for all types of weapons, artillery from distance, arrows and rife fire from closer distances, spears from throwing distances, swords, bayonets and knifes in close fighting, they should stand mortar fire, catapult fire, also when the catapult throwing in dead bodys of horses and men, fire or infected latrine (chemical warfare). All this was use against them, and more.
The doors in Bohus have a defending wall to the right. The enemy was, in the early days of Bohus (before the artillery) then forced to carry the shield with the right arm to protect them selfs from the defenders on the wall, they was forced to carry their weapons with the left hand instead of the right hand, that make them easier to kill in a fight close to the door.
So, swords, daggers and knifes was the reason to this type of architecture.
The Bocksteen blog man his cloths
http://www.personal.utulsa.edu/~marc-carlson/cloth/bockback.html
Thomas
The bog man from Bocksten in Sweden is now reconstructed! Forensics and doctors have work with the reconstruction for long times.
He was murdered with blows to his head, first a blow on his cheek, the second blow just over his ear, and the third blow in the back of his head and that blow was deadly, his skull broke, Now we know how he died but we still not knew why he was murdered.
I have earlier tell you about that he was buried in a bog and that three poles was forced thru his body, one of oak and (at least) two of birch. The oak pole has also been studied. It is a used piece of wood, perhaps used in a building, or a construction, of some kind. There is a drilled hole in the pole and one side is smoothed of using. It is to big and heavy for a walking stick, It can be, the murder weapon?
In those days, there was a small village, or a from, not far from the bog where the man from Bocksten was found. Perhaps he was murdered there, or close to the farm and then carried to the bog and buried there. The oak pole can be a sign for that (to big to carry, heavy an off to be the murder weapon and it was used in, perhaps, a building or a construction of some kind).
The forensics is still working with his DNA and other things from his body and I do not know when they can tell more, but when they are, I tell you about it.
They do not work anything with his knifes (Hat knifes) or other thing he was carrying so we will not know more about his knifes, sorry.
Thomas
He was murdered with blows to his head, first a blow on his cheek, the second blow just over his ear, and the third blow in the back of his head and that blow was deadly, his skull broke, Now we know how he died but we still not knew why he was murdered.
I have earlier tell you about that he was buried in a bog and that three poles was forced thru his body, one of oak and (at least) two of birch. The oak pole has also been studied. It is a used piece of wood, perhaps used in a building, or a construction, of some kind. There is a drilled hole in the pole and one side is smoothed of using. It is to big and heavy for a walking stick, It can be, the murder weapon?
In those days, there was a small village, or a from, not far from the bog where the man from Bocksten was found. Perhaps he was murdered there, or close to the farm and then carried to the bog and buried there. The oak pole can be a sign for that (to big to carry, heavy an off to be the murder weapon and it was used in, perhaps, a building or a construction of some kind).
The forensics is still working with his DNA and other things from his body and I do not know when they can tell more, but when they are, I tell you about it.
They do not work anything with his knifes (Hat knifes) or other thing he was carrying so we will not know more about his knifes, sorry.
Thomas
- Joined
- Apr 4, 2003
- Messages
- 556
What a cool story.
Cougar Allen
Buccaneer (ret.)
- Joined
- Oct 9, 1998
- Messages
- 76,336
I merged with the original thread so now it's all in one place. It's all well worth reading again.
- Joined
- Apr 3, 2004
- Messages
- 3,536
Those are some gorgeous knives. 
I am a traditionalist, and I can see shadows of my favorite pattern in there- the Scottish sgian dubh.
I am a traditionalist, and I can see shadows of my favorite pattern in there- the Scottish sgian dubh.