Why was grauballe man killed

Some scientists interpret this finding, along with the grisly wounds, as evidence of a ceremonial killing, suggesting that commoners were sacrificed just as readily as kings. Other experts, however, are skeptical. Kayhausen Boy: A slaughtered outcast — B. In , a German peat cutter found the mummified body of a 7- or 8-year-old boy wrapped in woolen fabric and a calfskin cloak.

He delivered the body to the local natural history museum in a wheelbarrow. One of few children disinterred from the bog, Kayhausen Boy died from repeated stabbings in the throat.

His left arm was also cut, a sign of self-defense. His killers had tied his arms behind his back and bound his feet with the calfskin cape, likely to transport the corpse. X-rays revealed that Kayhausen Boy suffered from an infected socket at the top of his femur, which would have made it difficult to walk without assistance. He also has Harris lines on his left tibia, suggesting growth disorders from malnutrition or disease.

In his book The Buried Soul , British anthropologist Timothy Taylor argues that Iron Age peoples may have believed disabled individuals had special powers. A study of the pigments in her hair later showed that it was actually blonde, but tannins in the bog had dyed it a fiery red.

After the local newspaper ran a letter about the discovery, archaeologists excavated the remains and delivered them to the Drents Museum. Examiners concluded that the year-old girl had been strangled with a woolen belt and stabbed above her left collarbone.

Like Kayhausen Boy, Yde Girl might have been killed for her physical deformities. CT scans revealed evidence of scoliosis, an abnormal curvature of the spine. And her right foot was swollen and appeared pigeon-toed, suggesting a limp.

But her hair offers an alternative explanation: Sheared on one side of her scalp, it was left chest-length on the other. In medieval times, this was a mark of disgrace reserved for cheating wives, implying that Yde Girl may have been executed for infidelity.

Kristen C. French is a science writer living in Brooklyn, New York. She previously covered business and the arts. Glob, P. The roads corkscrewed around gently rolling farm hills and undulating glacially sculpted valleys, pocked with kettle ponds and woodsy bogs lined with pink orchids and stiff umber cattails. I was there to meet with Mads Ravn, head archeologist at the Vejle Museum , who oversees a fascinating collection of artefacts, including Roman coins, inscribed swords and swastika brooches an ancient symbol that existed before its association with the Nazi Party that were all found in the bogs and are thought to be votive offerings, possibly for Iron Age gods or deities.

From a dark room in the back of the museum, I heard the gloomy call of the elk antler horn, piped in here by modern speakers, but often used as a distress call in Iron Age Denmark. I heeded its call and entered. Grooves on her neck suggest strangulation. Additional forensic analysis revealed her stomach contents at the time of her death, which included unhusked millet and blackberries, a strange last meal for a meat-centric society.

The star attraction here is Grauballe Man. Discovered in , the perfectly preserved bog body sits in a natural, almost yoga-like, lounging position, his feet and skin almost entirely intact, his face elegant with sharp features and a button nose.

Asingh led me to another exhibit, this time on bog dogs. Grauballe Man. The Grauballe Man. Although his primary interest is in the ancient civilizations of the Near East, he is also interested in other geographical regions, as well as other time periods Read More.

I assume that when the article states that corn was found in his stomach, this the old use of the word as a synonym for grain, and not describing the maize plant indigenous to the Americas being found in an Iron Age European stomach. Otherwise this would be an even more interesting find. Ancient Origins has been quoted by:.

At Ancient Origins, we believe that one of the most important fields of knowledge we can pursue as human beings is our beginnings. And while some people may seem content with the story as it stands, our view is that there exist countless mysteries, scientific anomalies and surprising artifacts that have yet to be discovered and explained.

The goal of Ancient Origins is to highlight recent archaeological discoveries, peer-reviewed academic research and evidence, as well as offering alternative viewpoints and explanations of science, archaeology, mythology, religion and history around the globe. By bringing together top experts and authors, this archaeology website explores lost civilizations, examines sacred writings, tours ancient places, investigates ancient discoveries and questions mysterious happenings. Our open community is dedicated to digging into the origins of our species on planet earth, and question wherever the discoveries might take us.

We seek to retell the story of our beginnings. Skip to main content. Updated 5 April, - dhwty. Read Later Print. The Discovery of Grauballe Man On the 26 th of April , a group of peat cutters were working in the Nebelgaard Bog in Central Jutland, Denmark, when one of them stumbled upon a bog body.

References Hirst, K. He is one of the anthropologists behind a new analysis of Danish bog bodies. Read More: New method reveals the secrets of bog bodies. It was previously suggested that the bog bodies could have been homosexual , because they seemingly had such delicate hands.

Similar analyses have now been conducted on other bog bodies, including Tollund Man, Borremose Woman, and Haraldskaer Woman. Today, scientists know that the outermost layer of skin that contains the protein keratin is dissolved in acidic environments, says Lynnerup. So, the hands lack the hardened, calloused look that they probably had. The new analyses, including x-rays, CT-scans, and 3D reconstructions, were conducted as part of a collaboration between the Danish museums, where the bog bodies are on display.

The new techniques are an improvement on previous analyses. Both of them were discovered around 70 years ago and were first studied in and Since then, they have yielded lots of information on how the fen affected their skeletons, says Lynnerup.

Just as the bog can dissolve the outermost layers of skin, it can also decalcify the bones making them soft and flexible, almost like wet cardboard. Instead they thought about which rare disease could have caused the bones to distort and shorten, and if these people suffered from such a rare disease, then that might explain why they were sacrificed.

For example, by stuffing their faces with various modern materials to prevent them from caving in. This was the case for Auning Woman, who was discovered in In the absence of modern conservation methods they stuffed her warped skull and sewed her head back together.