Seamus Heaney's "Punishment" draws its imagery in part from P.V. Glob's 1965 study of bog mummies, The Bog People. These mummies have been found mostly in northern Germany and Denmark and more recently in the British Isles. Many of them are 2000 or more years old are remarkably well preserved by the unique chemical properties of bog water. Below are some photographs of the so-called Windeby Girl (named after the location in which she was found), the particular mummy that Heaney refers to in his poem. The first three shots from Glob's book. One shows the girl's body as it was found at the actual excavation site, while the second and third were taken later. The final picture is more recent and shows the Windeby Girl in her current museum setting.

I can see her drowned
body in the bog,
the weighing stone,
the floating rods and boughs.

her shaved head 
like a stubble of black corn,
her blindfold a soiled bandage
her noose a ring

to store
the memories of love.

I am the artful voyeur

of your brain's exposed
and darkened combs
your muscles' webbing
and all your numbered bones:

you were flaxen-haired,
undernourished, and your tar-black face was beautiful.
My poor scapegoat,

I almost love you