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IEMA 2011 PresentationGuinevere Granite MS, MA
PhD CandidateUniversity at Buffalo, SUNY
Understanding the Burial Placement and Reason for Death of Northern European
Bog Bodies
Hundreds of bog bodies found in NW Europe Ireland, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Germany, and
Denmark
Individual bog bodies Great degree of variation in preservation
Skeletons, well-preserved complete bodies, isolated heads and limbs
Dating Ranging from Mesolithic period to the twentieth century
Background
www.pbs.org
History shrouded in speculation and mysteryLack of:
Written historyContextual understanding of death & chosen
interment site
Many generalize when determining reason for deathInstead of analyzing each body independently Without assumptions involving reason for
death
Historical Evidence?
1) Dead bodies: Awkward & hard to moveEasier to carry bodies downhill & submerge in a
bogCompleted rapidly & effectivelyNo need for cremation or underground interment
No ritualistic basis may apply
May be applied to bodies with no peri-mortem (during death) trauma and/or definitive CODNatural death; bog: a facilitated means of disposal
Practicality Theory
2) Social Ritual Theory: More complex theory
Social ritual conduct (i.e. human sacrifice for deity appeasement)
Circumstances may indicate:Single deity appeasementCombination of rituals to appease several deities
through one sacrifice (i.e. triple death)
Social Ritual Theory
Lindow Man: 2 BC-119AD, Lindow Moss, England~ 25 years oldFractured ribTwo bludgeons, back of headSlit throatGarroted (neck broken)Drowned
Victim of Triple Death (overkill):Teutates (drowning)Esus (hanging) Taranis (wounding)
www.britishmuseum.org
Excessive peri-mortem violence to many bog bodies
Violence may indicate human sacrifice through ritualistic deathStrangulation or intentional traumatic injury
(i.e. blunt force trauma or slitting of the throat)
Further Evidence of Human Sacrifice
Grauballe Man: 170 BC- 80 AD, Nebelgård Mose, Denmark~ 30 year-old Throat slitForehead wound w/
blow to right templeBroken leg
Yde Girl: 20 BC- 120 AD, Yde, Netherlands16- 17 year-old girlStrangled by woolen
bandStab wound near left
clavicle
van Vilsteren et al 2002
www.drentsmuseum.nl Granite 2010
Weerdinge Men: 115 BC-230 AD, Drenthe, NetherlandsIndividual 1 (Right):
Stab wound to left abdomen, intestines protruding
Individual 2 (Left): COD unknown
Tollund Man: 350-400 BC, Jutland Peninsula, Denmark 30-40 years old Strangled to death
with a rope
www.drentsmuseum.nl
www.archaeology.org
Granite 2010
Vary widely in ageUnique / unusual physical characteristics (i.e.
physical deformities)Often appear well-treated by society before
deathLittle evidence of heavy manual labor “Well-manicured” appearance Possible high social status (no unusual
physicalities)“Chosen” because of physical condition
Protected existence during life, used as sacrifices
Physical Deformities and the “Life of Leisure”
Yde Girlscoliosis
Moora Girl: 700-650 BC, Uchte, Germany17 – 19 years-
oldscoliosis Granite 2010
Esterweger Dose Child: 1046-1164 AD, Estewegen, Germany8 – 12 years-oldLCPD (Legg-Calve-
Perthes Disease) Osteomyelitis of
tibia/fibulaGranite 2010
Neu England Man: 135-340 AD, Ammerland, Germanyscoliosis
Zweeloo Woman: 1861 BC – 233 AD, Zweeloo, NetherlandsSkeletal
dysplasiaConsistent with
achondroplasia
Granite 2010
van der Sanden 1990
3) Dehumanization Theory:Possible criminals, foreign scapegoats, or war
captives “dehumanized” during death
Heads partially shaven
Limbs bound in various forms of bondage
Clothing present of animal fur or leatherPossible disintegration of plant-based clothing (i.e.
linen)?
Dehumanization Theory
Kayhausen Boy: 515 – 385 BC Kayhausen, Germany~ 7 years oldStabbed in throat & left
armHogtied with woolen
fabric
www.archaeology.org
Windeby Child: 365 BC – 65 AD, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany
18 - 19 year-oldPartially “shaved” head
Oxygen Exposure? Careless Excavators? Peat-cutting machine?
Woolen band eye-cover Hair maintenance that fell
over eyes after death?
Example of Dehumanization?
Yde Girl: Half of her long hair cut off
Peat cutting machine, not trowel damage?
No definitive evidence to refute Dehumanization TheoryDehumanizing acts of
judicial punishment?
Example of Dehumanization?
4) Accidental Death or Suicide Theory:Accidental death by drowning
Bogs known for being treacherous landscape Especially during foggy weather or nighttimeUnderwater dead vegetation like quicksand
Suicide by drowning
Both reasons would demonstrate no peri-mortem trauma, or apparent COD
Accidental Death or Suicide Theory
No signs of trauma or COD:
Juhrdenerfeld Man: 170 – 45 BC, Juhrdenerfeld, Germany 22-23 years old
Neu England Man: 135 - 340 AD, Ammerland, Germany40-50 years old
Husbake Man: 765 - 520 AD, Ammerland, Germany19-20 years old
Granite 2010
Application of multiple theories may be necessary to explain reason for death and bog interment
Numerous examples strongly suggest human sacrificeMust determine from evidence presented Unbiased analysis (case-by-case basis)
Cannot rule out accidental drowning, suicidal drowning or natural death if peri-mortem trauma is absent
Conclusions
Trauma often inflicted post-mortem by peat-cutting machines or mishandling by investigators
Granite 2009
Contact Information:Guinevere Granite
Anthropology DepartmentUniversity at Buffalo, SUNY
ggranite@buffalo.edu
Questions?
Aldhouse-Green M 2001. Dying for the gods. Human sacrifice in Iron Age and Roman Europe, Stroud, United Kingdom.
Asingh, P 2009. Grauballe Man: portrait of a bog body. Korotan, Slovenia, Moesgård Museum, Århus, Denmark. Coles, J & Minnitt, S 1995. “Industrious and fairly civilised: the Glastonbury Lake Village.” Exeter, Somerset
Levels Project and Somerset County Council Museum Services. Giles, M 2006, November 17th. “Bog Bodies: Representing the Dead.” Respect for Ancient British Human
Remains: Philosophy and Practice, Conference Paper. 1-14. Giles, M 2009. “Iron Age bog bodies of north-western Europe. Representing the dead.” Archaeological Dialogues.
16(1): 75-101. Green, M 1998. “Humans as Ritual Victims in the Later Prehistory of Western Europe.” Oxford Journal of
Archaeology. 17(2): 169-189. Heseltine, M 1969. Translation of Petronius. Cambridge Massachusetts, University of Harvard, Loeb Edition, 368-
387. Jarcho, S 1970 (July). “Tollund Man and other bog burials.” Bulletin of the New York Academy of Medicine 46(7):
554-558. Lobell, JA & Patel, SS 2010. “Bog Bodies Rediscovered.” Archaeology. 63(3): 22-29. McLean, S 2008. “Bodies from the Bog: Metamorphosis, Non-Human Agency and the Making of ‘Collective’
Memory.” Trames. 12 (62/57), 3, 299-308. Meredith, D 2002 (July). “Hazards in the Bog: Real and Imagined.” Geographical Review. 92(3): 319-332. Painter, T 1991 (June 17). "Preservation in Peat." Chemistry & Industry. (12): 421-424. Tacitus, PC 1970. The Agricola and the Germania. Harmondsworth: Penguin Books. Turner, RC 1995. “The Lindow Man Phenomenon: Ancient and Modern.” Bog Bodies: New Discoveries and New
Perspectives. British Museum Press: London, 168-204. Turner, RC 1999. Dating the Lindow Moss and other British bog bodies and the problems of assigning their
cultural context, in B. Coles, J. Coles and M. Schou Jørgensen (eds), Bog bodies, sacred sites and wetland archaeology, Exeter, 227–33.
van der Sanden, W 1996. Through nature to eternity. Drents Museum: Assen. Williams, M 2003. “Tales from the Dead: Remembering the Bog Bodies in the Iron Age of North- Western Europe.”
In: Archaeologies of remembrance: death and memory in past societies. Eds. Howard Williams. New York, NY, Kluwer Academic / Plenum Publishers, 89-112.
References
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