| Haraldskjaer Woman Human Mummy | |
| |
| Biographical Information | |
|---|---|
| Name(s) | aka Haraldskær Woman or Haraldskaer Woman |
| Age | 40 |
| Sex | F |
| Status | undetermined |
| Height | |
| Source | |
| Culture | Scandenavian |
| Date(s) | 500 BC. |
| Site | Jutland, Denmark |
| Current Location | |
| Location | St Nicolai Church in Vejle, Denmark |
| Catalog # | |
Haraldsjaer Woman is a well-preserved Iron Age bog body naturally preserved in a bog in Jutland, Denmark. The body was discovered in 1835 by laborers excavating peat on the Haraldskær Estate. Disputes regarding the age and identity of this body were settled in 1997, when radiocarbon dating determined conclusively that her death occurred around 500 BC.
The body is preserved due to the anaerobic conditions and tannins of the peat bog in which she was found. The body is now housed in a glass-covered coffin, allowing viewing of the body inside the Church of Saint Nicolai in central Vejle, Denmark.
This careful treatment of the Haraldskær Woman's remains explains the excellent state of conservation of the corpse;[3] carbon-14 dating proved was around 40+ years old and in good health when she died. Her clothing had been placed on top of her naked body.
Mummification[]
Naturally preserved by bog. The anaerobic conditions and acids of the peat bog contributed to the body's excellent preservation. The skeleton was intact, and so were the skin and internal organs.
Excavators found the body of the woman in a supine position in an excellent state of preservation. She was naked and her clothes, consisting of a leather cape and three woolen garments, had been placed on top of her.[8] Hurdles of branches and wooden poles pinned the body down.[9] The skin and the internal organs were both intact. The body had a lancing wound to the knee joint area, where some object (possibly one of the sharp poles) penetrated to some depth.[10] Her skin was deeply bronzed due to tannins in the peat, and all the body joints were preserved.
Studies[]
King Frederick VI had a beautiful sarcophagus made for what was presumed a royal mummy at the time of its discovery, in which it was laid to rest in the church of St. Nicholas in Vejle. Excited rumors suggested an identity for the body, but not everyone was convinced that the remains were the Viking era Queen Gunhilde, and a heated controversy arose. In 1977 a carbon date finally proved that the body predated the period in which Queen Gunnhilde lived by some 1,500 years.
The body was re-examined in 2000 by the Department of Forensic Science at the University of Aarhus, they found that her stomach content revealed a meal of unhusked millet and blackberries.
Pathology[]
A CT-scan of the cranium more accurately determined her age to be about 40 years old. She died in good health without signs of degenerative diseases. On her neck, there was groove suggesting someone strangled her.
Additional[]
The body is housed in a glass-covered sarcophagus in the northern transept of St Nicolai Church in Vejle, Denmark.
External Links[]
Featured in: http://archive.archaeology.org/online/features/bog/gunhild.html
References[]
- Ebbesen, Klaus (1986). Døden i mosen (in Danish). Copenhagen: Carlsen’s Forlag. p. 7.ISBN 978-87-562-3369-9. OCLC 18616344.
- Aldhouse-Green, Miranda J (2004). An archaeology of images [Iconology and cosmology in Iron Age and Roman Europe]. London/New York: Routledge. p. 93. ISBN 0-415-25253-9.OCLC 53099015.
- Archaeological Institute "Haraldskaer Woman: Bodies of the Bogs", Archaeology,Archaeological Institute of America, December 10, 1997.
- Fodor, John D. Rambow, ed. (2002). Denmark [the guide for all budgets, completely updated]. Fodor's Scandinavia. New York/London: Fodor's. ISBN 0-676-90203-0.
- Ashley, Julian; Lock (1998). The Mammoth Book of British Kings and Queens. New York: Carroll & Graf. p. 443. ISBN 978-0-7867-0405-7.
- Rowley-Conwy, Peter (2007). From Genesis to Prehistory: The Archaeological Three Age System and Its Contested Reception in Denmark, Britain, and Ireland. Oxford University Press. p. 70.ISBN 0-19-922774-8.
- Hvass, Lone, Dronning Gunhild - et moselig fra jernalderen, Sesam, (1998), p. 26. ISBN 87-7801-725-4