Secrets of European Bogs Revealed across Two Continents!Hull, Quebec, July 5, 2001 — A partnership of four major European and Canadian museums is proud to announce the first-ever international exhibition tour of significant archaeological finds discovered in European bogs.
The Mysterious Bog People exhibition is a joint effort of the Niedersächsisches Landesmuseum in Hanover, Germany, the Canadian Museum of Civilization in Hull, Canada, the Glenbow Museum in Calgary, Canada, and the Drents Museum in Assen, Netherlands.
The exhibition will tell the story of the people living near the bogs of northwestern Europe from the Mesolithic Age to the end of the sixteenth century and will shed light on their everyday lives, ideas and beliefs.
Over 440 original artifacts – pottery, bronze swords, leather shoes, textiles, gold coins, jewellery, musical instruments and agricultural tools – will be featured in the exhibition. A key artifact is the Pesse wooden dugout canoe, which has been carbon dated to between B.C. 8040 and 7510.
Radiocarbon-dated to 8500 B.C., this Mesolithic dugout canoe made of pine measures almost three metres in length, and was found in 1955 during construction of a motorway in a small bog near the Drents village of Pesse (Netherlands). Drents Museum.
"This is the oldest known boat in the world," says Mr. Jaap J. Brakke, Chief Curator at the Drents Museum. "Its condition demonstrates the extraordinary preservation qualities of the bog environment. This past year, a replica of the original canoe was hand-chiselled using prehistoric techniques and then floated in the water so that scientists could experience how it was manoeuvred on the water and how it was used for fishing and hunting.
"The botanical nature of the bogs and their chemical properties, which have preserved objects that would have decayed under normal burial conditions, are an essential element of the exhibition," explains Mr. Brakke.
Another important feature of The Mysterious Bog People will be the careful and sensitive display of mummies found in the bogs. When a skull is very well preserved, scientists in Europe are able to reconstruct its facial features. Two extraordinary examples are the facial reconstruction of the Yde girl, a 16-year-old girl discovered in the Netherlands, and of Red Franz, an adult man found in Germany.
"For the past several years, we have been at the leading edge of archaeological discoveries about prehistoric Europe," says Dr. Stephan Veil, vice-head of the department of prehistoric archaeology of the Niedersächsisches Landesmuseum in Hanover, Germany. "Through forensic analysis and scientific techniques, we have been able to determine the age as well as the skin, eye and hair colour of mummies found in the bogs of northwestern Europe. This research reveals historical and archaeological evidence supporting theories that the majority of the objects were deliberately placed in the bogs as offerings to the gods. Especially for this exhibition, we are going to reconstruct the facial features of a 2,000-year-old mummy, known as Red Franz because of his flowing red hair and whiskers. He was probably a Germanic horse-warrior. We are eagerly awaiting the results of the forensic analyses of Red Franz, hoping they may reveal the cause of his death."
The exhibition will give in-depth information about the extraordinary preservation qualities of the bogs of northwestern Europe and will show how forensic pathology is revealing more about the lives of the people who lived near these bogs. Modern scientific techniques that reveal the age, sex and physical health of human remains, and even the contents of the individual's last meal, will be explained in this exhibition through images, text and interactive displays.
All of the historically rich artifacts in The Mysterious Bog People are part of the important archaeological collections of the Drents Museum in Assen and the Niedersächsisches Landesmuseum in Hanover. Selected artifacts are also on loan from other museums in Germany and Denmark.
"When Mr. Jaap J. Brakke, Chief Curator at the Drents Museum, proposed this partnership to the Canadian Museum of Civilization and the Glenbow Museum in 1998, both Canadian museums were excited at the idea of participating in this unique international project," says Sylvie Morel, Director General, Exhibitions and Programmes, Canadian Museum of Civilization. "The opportunity to show such a rich collection of original material to Canadian visitors – and to help them understand the importance of the discoveries in the wetlands of Europe – was one we could not miss. This collaborative effort will enable three countries to share a wealth of information about the bog findings and will allow visitors to discover the stories of the people living near the bogs."
"A partnership of this amplitude gives us the opportunity to work with and learn from archaeological and museum experts in Europe," says Heinz Reese, Vice President of Program and Exhibit Development at the Glenbow Museum. "Our objective has been to produce a large-scale travelling exhibition, designed to give visitors in both Europe and Canada a full experience of the bog offerings and the lifestyles of the ancient people of northwest Europe. Building a strong presence in the areas where the exhibition will be shown is an experience that will enrich all the museums."
The Mysterious Bog People begins its journey across the continents in May 2002 and will be shown as follows:
May 10 to September 29, 2002 Niedersächsisches Landesmuseum,
Hanover, Germany
December 6, 2002 to September 1, 2003 Canadian Museum of Civilization,
Hull, Quebec, Canada
October 18, 2003 to February 22, 2004 Glenbow Museum,
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
April 5 to July 6, 2004 North American venue
September 6, 2004 to January 3, 2005 Drents Museum, Assen, Netherlands
Other major museums could be added to the tour of this extraordinary exhibition.
FACT SHEETMedia Information:
Dr. Thomas Hirte
Niedersächsisches Landesmuseum
Telephone: +49/(0)511/9807-626
E-mail: dr.thomas.hirthe@hirthe.hh.uunet.de OR nlmhlg@compuserve.com
Fax: +49/(0)511/9807-684
Pierre Pontbriand
Vice-President, Public Affairs
Canadian Museum of Civilization
Telephone: (819) 776-8515
E-mail: pierre.pontbriand@civilization.ca
Fax: (819) 776-7187
Brent Buechler
Manager, Marketing and Communications
Glenbow Museum
Telephone: (403) 268-4209
E-mail: brentb@glenbow.org
Fax: (403) 262-4045
Ellen ter Hofstede
Public Relations and Marketing
Drents Museum
Telephone: +31(0)592-312741
E-mail: e.hofstede@drenthe.nl
Fax: +31(0)592-317119
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