Bog Body Of The Elling Woman: Was She Sacrificed To The Gods Because Of Climate Change?
AncientPages.com - It took many years before scientists could finally determine the age and identity of a bog body discovered in 1938 west of Silkeborg, Denmark.
Many of the 1,000 or so bodies or body parts that have been unearthed were never properly examined at the time of the discovery.
Several of the bog bodies were destroyed, but bog mummies that remain have been investigated with modern technology and today, we can learn more about the people who lived and died during the Iron Age in Europe.
Iron Age People Considered Bogs To Be Gateways To The Supernatural World
Bog bodies are the naturally preserved human corpses found in the sphagnum bogs in Northern Europe. Unlike most ancient human remains, bog bodies have retained their skin and internal organs due to the unusual conditions of the surrounding area.
Elling Woman displayed at the Silkeborg Museum in a manner similar to how she was found buried in peat. Note the well-preserved hair. Image credit: J.S. Aber.
From 2,500 to 2,000 years ago, the Germanic tribes of Iron Age northwestern Europe had a habit of killing people and leaving their bodies in bogs.
Bogs were sacred places for Iron Age folk, acting as gateways to the supernatural world, where gifts could be presented to the gods.
Who Was The Elling Woman?
In 1976, archaeologists, forensic examiners, radiologists, forensic dentists and the Carbon-14 laboratory of the National Museum in Denmark started to examine the body found in a pit bog in Bjældskovdal and today we know more about the person who has become known as the Elling Woman.
The Elling Woman, who was discovered by a local farmer, Jens Zakariasson. Examination of the body revealed that she was only 25 years when she met a gruesome death.
She was hanged with a leather thong in 280 B.C. The thong left a V-shaped furrow that is clearly visible in her neck. She was wrapped in one sheepskin cape, and another covered her legs and feet.
Reconstruction of Elling Woman's hairstyle and cloak - Image credit: The Tollund Man
It is logical to assume that the Ellinge Woman was a human sacrifice, but why she was selected is unknown.
See also:
Unsolved Mystery Of The Huldremose Woman: One Of The Best Preserved Bog Bodies Ever Found
Archaeologist Christian Fischer, director of Denmark’s Silkeborg Museum suggests the Ellinge Woman might have been sacrificed during a stressful time of changing climate.
Fischer wants to investigate the possibility that her deaths could be linked to the weather. Maybe if something was going wrong, the people could have felt pressed to give a sacrifice to the gods, he says. And that sacrifice could be gold, silver, or even a human being.
Using carbon-14 method, experts were able to reveal that the Ellinge Woman died at approximately the same time as the Tollund Man, an unusually well-preserved body of an adult male who was approximately 30 to 40 years old when he died.
The Tollund Man is probably the most well-preserved body from pre-historic times in the world. However, the uncertainty connected with the method makes it impossible for to say if Elling Woman and the Tollund Man were placed in the bog at approximately the same time or if the sacrifices took place with an interval of 100 years.
Copyright © AncientPages.com All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed in whole or part without the express written permission of AncientPages.com
Expand for referencesMore From Ancient Pages
-
Anatolia’s Seyitömer Mound Was Inhabited In Bronze Age, Achaemenid, Hellenistic, And Roman Times
Archaeology | Aug 17, 2020
-
Sybil Ludington: Courageous American Girl Who Rode For Independence
Featured Stories | Dec 19, 2020
-
Walls Of Uruk Built By Sumerian King Gilgamesh 4,500 Years Ago
Featured Stories | Nov 28, 2015
-
Sacred Island Ukonsaari Of The Sami People Will Be Respected – Tourism Company Ends Landings On The Island
News | Nov 14, 2019
-
207-Year-Old Whaling Shipwreck Discovered In Gulf Of Mexico
Archaeology | Mar 23, 2022
-
Mysterious Ancient “Fish People” – Who Were They And How Did They ‘Change’ Civilizations Worldwide?
Featured Stories | Dec 20, 2021
-
Vikings’ Long Distance Trade Reached The Arctic – Deer Antler Combs Reveal
Archaeology | Sep 19, 2023
-
Three Unusual Celestial Journeys And The Chosen Ones Initiated Into The Secrets Of The Gods
Featured Stories | Jul 26, 2021
-
On This Day In History: Dryburgh Abbey One Of Most Beautiful Of All Border Abbeys Of Scotland Founded – On Nov 10, 1150
News | Nov 10, 2016
-
Rosicrucians: Facts And History About The Mysterious Secret Society
Featured Stories | Oct 20, 2016
-
A 1,500-Year-Old Holy Well Probably With Healing Water – Discovered In Bulgaria
Archaeology | Nov 25, 2020
-
Unique Over 1,000-Year-Old ‘Telephone’ Invented By A Lost Forgotten Civilization With No Written Language
Civilizations | Aug 24, 2018
-
Ancient Skeletons Reveal Britain Suffered From Parasite Infections Since The Bronze Age
Archaeology | Apr 22, 2022
-
War Between Romans And Persians Lasted 721 Years: One Of The World’s Longest Human Conflicts In History
Featured Stories | Apr 18, 2022
-
Nobel Prize: Svante Pääbo’s Ancient DNA Discoveries Offer Clues As To What Makes Us Human
DNA | Oct 12, 2022
-
Tuatha de Danann – ‘Gods’ Of Ireland And The Myth Of Danae And Zeus – Could The Early Irish Celts Have Ties To Ancient Greece?
Celtic Mythology | Mar 28, 2017
-
Original Colors Of 2,000-Year-Old Inscriptions At Temple Of Esna, Luxor – Revealed
Archaeology | Nov 14, 2020
-
Mysterious Ancient Underground King And Ruler Of The World – Secret Science – Part 2
Civilizations | Jul 26, 2018
-
Mysterious 3,000-Year-Old Underwater Urartu Castle Discovered
Archaeology | Nov 22, 2017
-
Large Statue Of Ancient Guardian Discovered At Angkor Wat
Archaeology | Aug 7, 2017