Although an Oxford University professor who worked in the archaeology department testified at Peter Reyn-Bardt’s trial to confirm the actual age of the skull, the jury was not swayed. As Science History noted, Reyn-Bardt was convicted of murder for the death of Malika Maria de Fernandez and subsequently sentenced to life in prison. Unfortunately, at the time of this writing, no trace of de Fernandez’s body has ever been found.
But the woman’s skull found in Lindow Moss ended up being the first of several ancient, well-preserved, and largely intact remains discovered in the Lindow Moss bog. As The Atlantic reported in 2016, there’s a scientific reason for this. Bogs like the one at Lindow Moss provide a unique environment for this type of preservation, as their native peat is able to prevent the decay of soft organic tissue despite the disintegration of harder material like bone. Although so-called “bog bodies” are usually misshapen due to bone decomposition, soft tissue like skin and hair remain extraordinarily intact. Other organic materials, including fur, wood, and certain textiles, are also able to be preserved. Unfortunately, the acidic nature of the bogs destroys all DNA.
As The Atlantic pointed out, bogs contain very little oxygen, an element necessary for the growth of bacteria that aid the decomposition process. Even though bogs do contain some bacteria, their metabolic infrastructure is inhibited by polysaccharides, a type of carbohydrate released by sphagnum plants (or, in other words, peat moss) found in those ecosystems.
