Explore / Online Tours
Lindow Man
Iron Age
Found in Lindow Moss, Cheshire
Height: 1.690 m (when he was alive)
Gift of Blue Prince Mushrooms, Littlehampton,
West Sussex
P&EE 1984 10-2 1
Room 50: Britain and Europe
Religion and ritual in Iron Age Britain
Lindow Man
This man is the most convincing evidence for human sacrifice in Iron Age Britain. Aged about 25, he met a horrific death in a bog in north-west England at about the time of the Roman Conquest of England. Before he was killed he had eaten unleaven bread made from wheat and barley, and had drunk a drink. He was taken to the bog. First, a couple of blows from a heavy object to his head smashed his skull. His throat was then cut and he was allowed to bleed for a time. Finally, he was placed face down in a pond in the bog. This horrific and elaborate sequence strongly suggests that he was sacrificed as part of a ritual. The drink contained mistletoe, which was sacred to the Druids, and it is recorded that Druids carried out human sacrifices.
Shop Online
History of Iron Age swords and scabbards, £85.00