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Spectrum

Publication Date

9-1-2012

Abstract

This article will investigate variations on place-making involving the museum presentation of the well-preserved bodies of Danish bog sites. While any museum site holds the potential for such a critical analysis, bog bodies have a unique role in the narrative nature of place-making: they are individuals who experienced the story being told (assuming, of course, that the story is “true”). They are, in essence, characters in the created story of the “place-world.” Well-preserved bodies are fully recognizable as humans, with recognizably human faces and, sometimes, discernible facial hair. They seem almost ready to tell the story of the past themselves. By telling these individuals’ stories, museum exhibits and visitors alike imagine and create place in a seemingly more real way: by imagining individuals’ lives, they transform the past into a relatable and accessible place where other humans acted, thought, and made meaning. The past landscape can, after all, have no significance if no one was there to experience it.

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