Solving a 700-Year-Old Mystery: Murder Victim’s Appearance Recreated with Help from the Killer
Bocksten Man has received a facial reconstruction. It is also known what he was wearing 700 years ago, just moments before he was killed. The murderer was unaware that by concealing the body, he would preserve it.
Valuable archaeological discoveries often happen by chance. In fact, specialists are not always behind the finds. Treasures from the past are sometimes stumbled upon by amateurs and even children. This was the case in Sweden several decades ago.
Bocksten Man, also known as the Swedish Bog Man
In June 1936, 5-year-old Gulli Johanssen and her brother Thure gathered peat at Bocksten Bog, Varberg. The children discovered human bones protruding from the ground. The Johanssen’s father notified the police.
It was determined that the remains belonged to a murdered man. However, this was not a recent case but a murder from centuries ago. Alongside body fragments, pieces of material and wooden pegs were found in the mud. This unusual discovery was examined at the museum.
There, it was revealed that the so-called Bocksten Man died 700 years ago due to multiple injuries. Cracks were present on the skull, and a wooden peg was still lodged in the chest…
