Ned Kelly was the one weak link in my opinion. His theory was straight out of the Golden Bough and wasn't he so very certain! Apart from that, I thought it was excellent and I can't understand Kammer's hostility and wonder what else they had to do to please in a one hour show. Great fun when they thought they had a dental filling! Glad they referred to Tacitus - he was a reliable chronicler even if only recording what others told him. As well as telling of punishment executions he also describes the Germanic (including the Anglii) worship of Nerthus. He tells how the rites were secret and the slaves that were involved, were slain afterwards and drowned in lakes. Some of those lakes may well have become bogs.

Surely it's clear now that some bog bodies were executed criminals and some were sacrifices. Some went clamly to their deaths (Tollund Man) and others didn't (Grauballe Man and these two Irish ones). It seems to me that the nipple cutting torture means execution of a criminal as it seems unlikely that ritual sacrifices would be mutilated. The arm band was interesting and similar to the fox fur armband that was the sole item of clothing on Lindow man. Also interesting was the apparent high status shown by well manicured finger nails. This is common to many of the Danish bog bodies. I do trust that those who want to see the past through rose tinted specs will now understand that life, religion, crime and punishment were violent.

I don't buy that. Any evidence other than the Wicker Man out of the White Goddess out of the Golden Bough? I'm not saying that kings or chieftains were never sacrificed, but what evidence is there that any of the bog bodies were kings? They were high status, certainly. If a king went as a willing sacrifice, would he have been tortured and de-nippled? Tacitus tells us of ritual sacrifice and of criminal or breach of honour executions. I'll go with him rather than romantics like Fraser and Graves.