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Lindow Man
Iron Age, mid-1st century AD
Found in Lindow Moss, Cheshire, England
Victim of a sacrifice?
The body of this man was discovered in August 1984 when workmen
were cutting peat at Lindow Moss bog in north west England. It was
carefully transported to the British Museum and thoroughly examined
by a team of scientists. Their research has allowed us to learn
more about this person – his health, his appearance and how he
might have died – than any other prehistoric person found in
Britain.
The conditions in the peat bog meant that the man’s skin, hair
and many of his internal organs are well preserved. Radiocarbon
dating shows that he died between AD 20 and 90. He was about 25
years of age, around 168 cm tall and weighed 60-65 kg. He had
probably done very little hard, manual work, because his finger
nails were well manicured. His beard and moustache had been cut by
a pair of shears. There is no evidence that he was unwell when he
died, but he was suffering from parasitic worms. His last meal
probably included unleavened bread made from wheat and barley,
cooked over a fire on which heather had been burnt.
The man met a horrific death. He was struck on the top of his
head twice with a heavy object, perhaps a narrow bladed axe. He
also received a vicious blow in the back – perhaps from someone’s
knee – which broke one of his ribs. He had a thin cord tied around
his neck which may have been used to strangle him and break his
neck. By now he was dead, but then his throat was cut.
Finally, he was placed face down in a pool in the bog. This
elaborate sequence of events suggests that his death may have been
ritual killing. Some people have argued that he was the victim of a
human sacrifice possibly carried out by Druids.
Lindow Man’s official name is Lindow II, since other human
remains have also been found in Lindow Moss bog: a human
skull, known as Lindow I, a fragmented headless body (Lindow III)
and the upper thigh of an adult male (Lindow IV) which as it was
found close to Lindow Man may be the remains of his missing
leg.
R. Turner and R. Scaife, Bog bodies: new discoveries an (London, The British Museum Press, 1995)
I.M. Stead, J. Bourk, and D. Bothwell, Lindow Man: the body in the bo (London, The British Museum Press, 1986)
D. Brothwell, The bog man and the archaeolog (London, The British Museum Press, 1986)
S. James and V. Rigby, Britain and the Celtic Iron Ag (London, The British Museum Press, 1997)