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Peat Marsh

The Lindow Man

Lindow Man, or Pete Marsh, as he is sometimes affectionately known, was discovered in August, 1984 by commercial peat cutters. It actually was Andy Mould’s second discovery of a bog body, having found a woman’s head a year earlier. Interestingly enough, this first discovery led to a confession of a modern day murder.

Five days after his discovery, the block of peat was transported to a local hospital and several paleobotanists and a biologist had their first serious look at him. They first had to date his death. Lindow Man died between 20 AD and 90 AD. He had been placed face down in the bog. It appeared that his positioning was deliberate.

Cause of Death

The anaerobic and other preservative properties of the peat have enabled scientists to determine the cause of death. He had sustained two severe blows to the head that fractured the skull, had been garroted and his throat was cut. The rope was so tightly wound that it broke two of his neck vertebrae. Any one of these injuries could have killed him.

It was also determined that he’d suffered systematic physical abuse before his death. This could have been either symbolic degradation or he may have been a foreign captive ritually slaughtered.

Examination

Further examinations showed that his hair and beard had been trimmed shortly before his death. His fingernails appeared well manicured and cared for. Using his upper arm bone to determine his height, it was determined that he was approximately five feet seven inches tall, was a well built man and certainly in his prime. The British Museum puts him at about 25 years of age.

The bog had also preserved the contents of his stomach. His last meal consisted mainly of burnt cereal grains - wheat, bran and barley. But that wasn’t all they found. There was the presence of mistletoe pollen in his stomach which came from a drink he’d consumed shortly before death. If the mistletoe came from a flower, then scientists could place his death in March or April. However if it was from a dried pollen, time of death becomes impossible to determine. Mistletoe is a poisonous plant which causes convulsions and would not have been ingested carelessly. It is also known to be very sacred among the ancient Celts. It, along with the fact analysis of the body shows it to have been painted before death, has led to the theory that he was a sacrificial victim.

So we are looking at a well built man with well manicured nails and a developed but roughly trimmed beard. That alone makes him very unique among bog bodies. Was he an aristocrat or a high born prisoner?

References:

Wikipedia: Lindow Man

Dying for the Gods, Miranda Aldhouse Green, Tempus, 2002

Featured Mummy: Lindow Man

Photos courtesy of:

RN-DS Partnership - Practitioners in photocomparison

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