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