Windeby I is the name given to the bog body found preserved in a peat bog near Windeby, Northern Germany, in 1952. Until recently, the body was also called the Windeby Girl, since an archeologist believed it to be the body of a 14-year-old girl, because of its slight build. Prof. Heather Gill-Robinson, a Canadian anthropologist and pathologist, used DNA testing to show the body was actually that of a sixteen-year-old boy.[1] The body has been radiocarbon-dated to between 41 BC and 118 AD.[2]
Cause of death
It was thought by P.V. Glob that the body had met with a violent death (The Bog People, Glob, 1969, p114), but research by Dr. Heather Gill-Robinson has led to this theory being disputed.[3] Jarrett A. Lobell and Samir S. Patel wrote that the body 'shows no signs of trauma, and evidence from the skeleton suggests [she] may have died from repeated bouts of illness or malnutrition.'[4]
See also
Some notable bog bodies
(BCE/CE dates given are radiocarbon dates.)
- Bocksten Man, a modern body from 1290 to 1430 CE, found 1936 in Varberg Municipality, Sweden.
- Borremose Bodies, from 400 to 700 BCE, found 1940s in Himmerland, Denmark.
- Cladh Hallan mummies, from 1600 to 1300 BCE, found on the island of South Uist, Scotland.
- Clonycavan Man, from 392 to 201 BCE, found 2003 in County Meath, Ireland
- Girl of the Uchter Moor, found in 2000 in Uchte, Germany.
- Grauballe Man, from 290 BCE, found 1952 in Jutland, Denmark.
- Haraldskær Woman, from 490 BCE, found 1835 in Jutland, Denmark.
- Lindow Man, from 20 to 90 CE, found 1984 in Cheshire, England.
- Old Croghan Man, from 362 to 175 BCE, found in County Offaly, Ireland.
- Yde Girl, from 54 BCE to 128 CE, found 1897 near the village of Yde, Netherlands.