Dröbnitz Girl
Dröbnitz Girl | |
|---|---|
 Face of the Dröbnitz Girl shortly after excavation | |
| Died | Drwęck, Poland |
Body discovered | 15 July 1939 |
| Era | c. 650-475 BCE |
| Known for | One of the few bog bodies from Eastern Europe |
The Dröbnitz Girl was a naturally preserved cadaver of an adolescent girl found in a peat bog in 1939 in Dröbnitz in East Prussia (present-day Drwęck in Poland). She was one of the few such documented finds of bog bodies in East Prussia and Eastern Europe in general. The archaeological find was lost around the end of World War II.[1]
Discovery
On 15 July 1939, the Dröbnitz Girl was found by Erich Redmann, a worker of the Reich Labour Service while carrying out work in the Dröbnitz bog. Initially, workers came across a piece of hide and attempted to pull it out of the bog, whereby they tore both legs out of the cadaver's hip joints. On 19 July the State Office for Prehistory was informed of the find and the remains, that were moved from the original location. They were recovered 20 July. Both legs of the cadaver were mostly missing, and from the subsequent excavation only one femur was able to be recovered. Redmann was questioned about the exact circumstances of the discovery and a statement of that recorded. Subsequently the remains were brought to the Prussia Museum in Königsberg, where scientific examination and preservation of the body took place.[2]
Scientific analysis
Condition
The girl lay stretched out on her back and was wrapped in a fur cloak. Both the body and the fur cloak were preserved very well. Her arms were crossed over her chest and her head was turned to the right. The precise circumstances such as the geographic orientation, the depth or layer of soil were not able to be precisely determined, as the remains were moved from the original location of discovery and the site was already excavated further. Biologist Dr. Groß examined the site on 24 July and took some samples for pollen analysis. 8 metres away he had a 260 centimetre deep bore drilled in the bog. Comparisons with the peat remains on the body revealed that she must have been buried at a depth of 160 to 205 cm in strongly decomposed sphagnum peat. The only additional items found buried were the remnants of a comb.[2]
Anthropological analysis
The remains were determined to belong to a 12–14 year old girl. Her body was completely intact except for the legs that were lost. Her skin was still spongy and soft at the time of discovery. An autopsy was carried out in Königsberg by doctors Krause and Zeiger. It was revealed that the inner organs were clearly identifiable and the structure of the soft tissue was still preserved. The bones, teeth, and fingernails were also intact. The cause of death was unable to be determined by the autopsy or by X-rays taken by Dr. Loepp. A total of eleven Harris lines were found on the bones similar to the Windeby I remains, indicating malnutrition early in the life of the girl.[3]
Analysis of the contents of the stomach and intestines were carried out by Walter von Stoker and H. Gross. Many food remains were identified consisting primarily of leaves, flowers, and flower-buds of sorrel, coltsfoot, and lungwort. Further, remnants of peas, wheat, and a few meat fibers, and animal fats were found. Pollen from lungworts, various grasses, crucifers, and buttercups was also detected. This suggested that the girl consumed a porridge before her death. The presence of pollen from alder, birch, and hazel gave way to the assumption that the she died in spring.
The intestines were examined by Lothar Szidat and very well preserved eggs of two parasites were found. They were heavily infested with whipworms and a bit less so with roundworms. According to Szidat, the severity of the infection corresponded with the results of contemporaneous investigations of the rural peasant population of East Prussia of the time.[4] Based on the infection statistics of the East Prussian population, Szidat estimated the age of the girl to be 15–19 at death, which was a bit higher than what the anthropological analysis had concluded.[1]
Clothing
The girl was wrapped completely in a sheepskin fur cloak. This was sewn together from four pieces and measured 80 cm high, 150 cm wide. The seams were finished with fine (about 1 to 1.2 mm wide), twisted leather cords by an overcast stitch. The edges were turned over at the neck area. At one corner of the neck area, a leather strap was sewn, and opposite to that, a leather loop serving as a fastener. For a better fit on the shoulders, two darts were sewn onto the shoulder area of the coat. The coat was lengthened at the lower edge by a piece of leather that was sewn onto it. On the inner side, several darned spots were repaired with leather patches applies on using a fine running stitch. All these stitches were very carefully executed. On the other hand, the tear running across the whole coat was sewn a bit more carelessly with twisted sinew.[2] Many similar cloaks to this one have been preserved, such as those of the Kayhausen Boy, the Elling Woman, the Haraldskær Woman, or the Jührdenerfeld Man.[1]
Grave goods
The only grave good found with the girl was a single-row wooden comb with a wide handle. This was made relatively roughly from a piece of wood that was about 3 mm thick. Found in two pieces, it originally had a length of about 10 cm. The handle was curved and its surface was decorated with circular eyes and featured eyelets on both ends. A cord made from twisted wool was pulled through an eyelet and showed clear signs of wear, indicating it was probably part of a carrying implement.[2]
Dating
Geological dating based on soil layer or depth was deemed impossible as this was not paid attention to during the excavation. Pollen analysis of peat remains on the body was compared to peat samples taken 8 m away, indicating that the body entered the bog around 500 BCE. Typological comparison of the comb especially with Iron age depictions on ceramics and face-urns from Central and Eastern Europe confirmed the dating to the early Iron age. More precisely it is dated to the Ha D period of the Hallstatt culture between 650 and 475 BCE, according to Hans Eggers.[2]
Cause of death
The cause of death of the Dröbnitz Girl could not be determined, nor any evidence of homicide found. The fact that she was wrapped in a fur cloak, lying on her back and the comb indicate that burial is most likely. The burial might have taken place outside of a common burial site for unknown reasons, as furthermore cremation was the predominant practice at the time. The findings thus make ritual sacrifice highly unlikely. Samples of peat remains from the back of the body contained remains of aquatic animals, indicating that the body was placed in a shallow pool that quickly silted up.[2]
See also
- List of bog bodies
- Windeby I, a bog body found in Germany.
- Osterby Man, the preserved head of a c. 1st century BCE man found in Schleswig-Holstein.
- Girl of the Uchter Moor, found in 2000 in Uchte, Germany.
- Kayhausen Boy, the body of a young Iron age child found in Lower Saxony.
References
- 1 2 3 Wijnand van der Sanden (1996). Vereeuwigd in het veen: De verhalen van de Noordwest-Europese veenlijken [Immortalized in the Peat: The Stories of Northwest European Bog Bodies] (in Dutch). Amsterdam: De Bataafsche Leeuw. ISBN 90-6707-416-0.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 La Baume, Wolfgang (1940). "Der Moorleichenfund von Dröbnitz Kr. Osterode Ostpr". Alt-Preußen: Vierteljahresschrift für Vorgeschichte und Volkskunde (in German). 5 (3): 17–22.
- ↑ Wurm, Helmut (1986). "Konstitution und Ernährung III. Zur Konstitution und Ernährung der frühgeschichtlichen Germanen". Gegenbaurs morphologisches Jahrbuch (in German) (132). Geest & Portig: 899–951.
- ↑ Szidat, Lothar (October 1944). "Über die Erhaltungsfähigkeit von Helmintheneiern in Vor- und Frühgeschichtlichen Moorleichen". Parasitology Research (in German). 4 (13): 265–274. doi:10.1007/BF03177148.
Further reading
- Marija Gimbutas (1963). The Balts. London: Thames and Hudson.