Thanksgiving is here, and for some, that means navigating difficult conversations with family members about politics or your personal life. But even if you’re not visiting family — or if you are but you all agree on absolutely everything — chances are that you will, at some point in the next few days, experience a lull in conversation while people scramble to think of a new topic.
Fortunately, we at the Cut have you covered. Here are some questions everyone is sure to love:
• Have you heard of bog bodies?
• Isn’t it interesting how well the chemical environment of peat bogs preserves human bodies?
• Have you ever visited a bog? Where was it? Did you like it?
• Can you tell the difference between a bog and a fen? Be honest, haha.
• Did you first learn about bog bodies in school or from a friend?
• Do you know about the Tollund Man, who died between 375 and 210 B.C. and whose body was so well preserved that the peat cutters who discovered him on the Jutland Peninsula in Denmark in 1950 thought that maybe he was a recent murder victim?
• Or the Yde Girl in the Netherlands, who died between 54 B.C. and A.D. 128 and whose body and long reddish hair were preserved when she was discovered in 1896?
• In the 1980s, German scientist Alfred Dieck published a catalogue of over 1,850 bog bodies he claimed to have counted, but a later analysis of his work found it unreliable. How many bog bodies do you think are out there? What percentage do you think have been discovered?
• Do you prefer fresh cranberry sauce or canned?
Hope this helps! Happy Thanksgiving.