Book casts new eye on Denmark's Iron Age 'bog people'

COPENHAGEN -- A new book about Denmark's so-called bog people suggests the Iron Age sacrifice victims were not brutally beaten as previously thought.

The bog people are a collection of well-preserved remains found in Danish peat bogs. Christian Fischer, director of the Silkeborg Museum, has written Trollund Man -- A Gift to the Gods, a compilation of more than 30 years of studies into the remains. Because the skulls of many of the remains are crushed, researchers previously believed the victims had been brutally beaten. But Fischer says the damage was likely caused by the weight of the peat pressing down on the bodies, the Copenhagen Post said Thursday. The newspaper said Fischer's research supports theories that the bog people were hung during rituals.