A publication of the Archaeological Institute of America
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| Clothing and Hair Styles of the Bog People | "Bodies of the Bogs" |
| The flattened body of Damendorf Man was discovered in 1900 in the Seemoor in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. The bones almost completely dissolved in the bog. His body lay face downwards, his head resting on his outstretched left arm. Damendorf Man was accompanied by several garments and accessories. His fine pair of open work shoes were wrapped in a pair of breeches along with a leather belt and two leg wrappings. The leather belt is visible in the foreground. Damendorf Man died between A.D. 140 and 380. (Archäologisches Landesmuseum of Germany, Schleswig) |
![[image]](thumbnails/damendorf.gif)
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![[image]](thumbnails/osterby.gif)
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In 1948 a head was found wrapped in a deerskin cape in the Köhlmoor near Osterby, Schleswig-Holstein in Germany. Most remarkable is the man's coiffure, known as a Swabian knot. The Roman author Tacitus gives a detailed description of this particular knot is his book Germania (A.D. 98). Osterby Man was decapitated between A.D. 70 and 220. (Archäologisches Landesmuseum of Germany, Schleswig) | |
| In 1780 a body was found in a small bog near Drumkeeragh, County Down in Ireland. The bones were reinterred nearby. Large pieces of clothing were taken off by peasants for reuse and much was damaged by animals and children. Thanks to the intervention of Lady Moira, on whose estate the find was made, several pieces of clothing and this 16.5-inch hair plait were saved. Lady Moira even published the discovery in an archaeological journal (1783). The find has never been dated, but might well be post-medieval. (National Museum of Ireland, Dublin) |
![[image]](thumbnails/drumkeeragh.gif)
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![[image]](thumbnails/elling2.gif)
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Elling Woman was found in 1938 in Bjeldskovdal bog, 6 miles west of Silkeborg, Denmark. She lived in the pre-Roman Iron Age, between 350 and 100 B.C. Her elaborate plait has been replicated in this photograph. (Silkeborg Museum of Denmark) | |
- See more articles on bog bodies.
© 1997 by the Archaeological Institute of America
archive.archaeology.org/online/features/bog/clothing2.html
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