A few miles from Ribe in Denmark has been rebuilt a Viking village where the living conditions of the Viking era have been recreated. Crafts, agricultural activities, animal breeding are reproduced that make the visitor take a leap into the past, in that civilization that dominated in the northern Europe between 700 and 1100.
In the Moesgard Museum in Aarhus, Denmark among the collection of prehistoric finds is the main attraction which is the bimillion-year-old Grauballe Man, whose extraordinarily preserved body was found in 1952 near the village of Graubelle, 35 km from the city of Aarhus, in a swamp in central Jutland by a peat-seeker. No jewelry or clothing were found near the body. The mummy is very well preserved. The fingers are in good condition, so much so that they can get fingerprints. Beard, hair and skin are excellently preserved, but the colors have been altered by time and prolonged immersion in the swamp. Nail and hair keratin has taken on a reddish colou for the biochemical conditions of the environment. The bones are almost dissolved due to the acidity of the environment that has soluble the mineral component of the bones. . The skin has taken on a very dark color, almost black, which like a parchment seems to cover the bones. The body had been preserved for a process similar to tanning, caused by the umic acid and the iron contents of the peat water that had made the skin very resistant and prevented rotting.
