Treatment and Display of Human Remains

Question 1

Condition of human remains

Lindow Man condition

Body, Skin, Arm, Head and Shoulders, Neck and Torso

Answer 1

• Body: upper survived with all features remaining; lower body missing parts, slightly curled up on right side
• Skin: tanned and leathery, ginger beard on face
• Arm: elbow slightly damaged, wrists + hands in poor condition; fingernails intact
• Head and shoulders: disfigured due to weight of peat bog, ginger
• Neck and torso: naked, bearing stab wounds + fox fur armband

Question 2

Discovery of human remains

Lindow Man discovery

Answer 2

• 1984: Found in Lindow Moss peat bog (Cheshire, England)
• Foot found in machinery by 2 workmen cutting peat, who then called police
• Archaeologist Rick Turner was sent for, identified foot as part of ancient bog body
• 1988: Skin of buttocks, part of left leg, right thigh, and femur were found

Question 3

Removal of human remains from discovery site

Lindow Man removal

Question 4

Scientific analysis

Lindow Man visual investigation

Age, Build, Height, Weight, Nature of Environment

Answer 4

Revealed that:
- Age: 25-30 yrs old
- Build: muscular, peak of physical condition
- Height: 1.65cm
- Weight: 60-65kg
- Wearing fox fur armband

Naked except for armband: unusual circumstances of death, as climate would have been too cold to go around naked

Question 5

Modern preservation methods

Lindow Man preservation

Method, Result, Display

Answer 5

Freeze-drying:
- Soaked in polyethylene glycol to prevent distortion
- Body frozen, then vaporised to remove the ice

Results:
- Minimal shrinkage on body

Display:
- Placed in purpose-built display case with controlled environment in British Museum

Question 6

Scientific investigation

Lindow Man EM results

Electron microscopy

Social status (occupation)

Answer 6

• Fingernail: smooth, buffed - he was not used to heavy work. Possibly involved in textiles manufacturing due to buffed quality of nails

Question 7

Scientific investigation

Lindow Man SEM results

Scanning electron microscopy

Health, diet

Answer 7

• Stomach contents: mistletoe pollen - mistletoe pollen comonly used in Druidic rituals → possible link to Druidic tradition
• Hair strand: a “step” in the hair where blades may have met - he may have used scissors to cut his beard
• Roundworm + whipworm eggs in stomach - intestinal parasites, not severe enough to affect health. Possibly a common affliction in Iron Age society

S - step in beard
E - eggs of roundworms and whipworms
M - mistletoe pollen

Question 8

Scientific investigation

Lindow Man ESR spectroscopy

Electron spin resonance spectroscopy

Diet

Answer 8

• Stomach contents: bran and charcoal fragments - burnt griddlecake eaten before death → griddlecake was part of Iron Age diet in Britain

ESR - examines changes in molecular structure to determine heat exposure

Question 9

Scientific investigation

Lindow Man atomic abosrption spectrometry

Beliefs and practices

Answer 9

• Higher copper content on torso skin than other parts of body → copper pigments may have been applied as body paint, suggesting ritual element of death

Atomic absorption spectrometry - determines composition of elements in a sample, e.g. copper content

Question 10

Scientific investigation

Lindow Man radiocarbon dating

Carbon-14

Age, nature of environment

Answer 10

• Died between 2 BC - 119 AD → lived in Iron Age, maybe even lived during Roman invasion of Britain

Question 11

Scientific investigation

Lindow Man xeroradiography

Death

Answer 11

• Fracture of skull driven into brain → impact caused by blunt instrument, possibly an axe
• Swelling around splinter wound in brain → Lindow Man may have survived in an unconscious state hours after the blow

Xeroradiography - form of X-ray, image of body recorded on paper instead of on film

Question 12

Scientific investigation

Lindow Man fibre optic endoscopy

Death

Answer 12

• Neck was garrotted, cutting jugular and larynx
• Stab wound in throat → combination of garroting, stabbing, head trauma suggests triple death theory

Question 13

Scientific investigation

Lindow Man CT scan

Computed tomography scan

Health, death

Answer 13

• Schmorl’s nodes found → Lindow Man had mild osteoarthritis
• Swelling and bruising of brain → support xeroradiograph theory that he was alive a few hours after sustaining head injury

CT scan: X-rays and digital computer technology used to create detailed images of inside of body

Question 14

Moral questions

Lindow Man ethicality

Answer 14

• Did not consent to being dug up and probed into
• Invasive methods of scientific investigation (e.g. fibre optic endoscopy, SEM), may be religiously/culturally disrespectful to dignity of human body
• Physically investigating body may go against original and ceremonial beliefs e.g. Beltain

Question 15

Written sources

Written sources on Celtic beliefs/customs

Answer 15

• Most are from Roman or Greek sources
• E.g. Strabo, Diodorus, Pliny the Elder, Tacitus, Julius Caesar, Suetonius
• Celtic people were literate but transmitted knowledge orally instead

Question 16

Written sources

Limitations of Celtic beliefs/practices written sources

Answer 16

• Biased because Romans saw Celtic practices as barbaric

Question 17

Written sources

Mistletoe and oak groves associated with Druids

Answer 17

Pliny the Elder

Question 18

Anyone suffering serious disease or going into battle would offer a human sacrifice to be carried out by Druids

Answer 18

Julius Caesar

Question 19

Druids would sacrifice a human victim to the gods to predict the future

Answer 19

Diodorus

Question 20

The area where a victim has been sacrificed becomes sacred

Answer 20

Tacitus

Question 21

Celtic tradition

Signficance of bogs

Answer 21

• Sacred wells significant to Teutates, the Celtic god of the tribe

Question 22

Celtic death ritual

Human sacrifice to three gods (Triple Death)

Anne Ross

Answer 22

• Instead of offering three different sacrifices, sometimes only one was offered to please 3 gods
• Taranis (god of thunder): POWs burnt alive in giant wicker cages
• Esus (god of the underworld): victims hanged from trees, stabbed to death, or both
• Teutates (god of the tribe): victims taken to sacred pools (bog)

Question 23

Celtic rituals

Beltane

Answer 23

• Held by Celtic tribes on 1st of May (spring in Northern Hemisphere)
• Held in times of great difficulty e.g. attack by Romans or crop failure
• Intended to gain help from sun god Belenos by offering human sacrifice
• Portion of special bread deliberately burned and handed out. Whoever received burnt part was a “devoted one”, would be sacrificed

Question 24

Evidence that Lindow Man may have been a ritual sacrifice victim

Answer 24

• Burnt griddle cake in stomach
• Botanical evidence in peat bog + cereal grains → may have died in winter or early spring
• Three methods of death → triplism
• Mistletoe pollen in stomach unlikely to have been ingested accidentally as it is poisonous, but ritually significant to Druids
• Possible body paint
• Rick Turner said: “The most likely epxlanation … is that they represent ritual sacrifices, probably for religious reasons”

Question 25

Formation of bogs

Answer 25

• Poor drainage + waterlog from melting ice → water basins form in low elevation areas
• Increased plant growth + decay → growth of sphagnum moss over surface of water → peat-filled bog containing minerals, acids, and little-to-no oxygen

Question 26

Natural preservation of bog bodies

Answer 26

• A body is buried in a bog with less than 10 degrees annual temperature during winter/early spring when water is less than 4 degrees cold
• Low temp, oxidation and pH levels delay immediate bacterial action
• Sphagnum mosses turns cell surfaces acidic
• Buildup of dead cells + sphagnum mosses creates anaerobic environment, preventing bacteria growth
• Flesh dehydrates and body becomes embalmed

Question 27

Primary theories for bog bodies

Answer 27

• Criminal punishment: Tacitus - ritual drowning in lake was a punishment, sacrifice to goddess Nerthus
• Religious offering: winter sacrifices bring bountiful spring
• Kingship rituals: Irish scholars associated bog bodies with kingship rituals or marking of borders
• Weiderganger theory: Draugr (undead creature in Norse mythology) placed in bogs to keep from returning to terrorise the living