Were the Weerdinge bog mummies a homosexual couple?
Recent DNA evidence validates that they were both men and not related maternally. Found in the Bourtangermoor peat bogs of the Netherlands in 1904 by peatcutter Hilbrand Gringhuis, the two naturally mummified bodies were long thought to be those of a man and woman. Because the bodies had been arranged in the peat bog 2,000 years ago (they roughly date from 160 BCE to 220 CE) so that the smaller person (Body 2) lay in the right arm of the larger person (Body 1) with Body 1’s left hand clasping the left arm of Body 2, they were immediately romanticized by the public as “the Weerdinge couple”, and even given names: Joan and Darby van der Peat. The severely corroded, mummified bodies of the Weerdingen men [click for larger image] Sex identification of the bodies has been difficult because of their poor state. Their heads were mostly missing (although the Body 1’s hair is partially intact as seen above, right). The penis of Body 1 is still intact as well. Unfortunately, the pelvic area of B
