Yde
Girl is one
of the most unforgettable bog bodies I've ever encountered (ranking right
up there with Denmark's Tollund Man and England's Lindow Man).
Discovered in the Netherlands' Bourtangermoor, Yde Girl has been
well-studied by the Dutch archaeologist W.A.B. van der Sanden. These
findings have revealed a great deal of information about her, her life,
and her death some 2000 years ago.
She
was strangled by a woollen waistband (or belt) which had been slip-knotted
and wrapped around her neck three times. Peatcutters using a scoop to
dredge peat from the bog in 1897 were so terrified to see her body that they ran away. Her red hair caused them to think that they
had come face-to-face with the devil.
Her discovery and recovery
were handled poorly. 
Her
body was badly damaged by peatcutters' tools; she was not all in one
piece. When the peatcutters returned later that same day, they hid her
under stacks of peat on the surface of the bog. She stayed there for nine
days until the local mayor found her. Apparently interested in science,
the mayor made some notes. He also dredged more parts of Yde Girl
from the bog: one hand, one foot, and part of her pelvis. He noted that
hair from half of her head had been shaved off. And he contacted the Drents Museum about
the find. But the villagers had other ideas: they pulled her hair out and
removed her teeth and most likely some of her bones. Fortunately, the
museum was interested in preserving the girl (or what was left of her),
including the cloak that was also found with her.
A
CT scan suggested that she was 16 years old when she died (her wisdom
teeth had neither formed roots nor erupted). The scan also revealed that
she had scoliosis or curvature of the spine; she was a little more than
4.5 feet tall. Part of her right foot appeared swollen, as if she placed
most of her body weight on that side. Scientists
have speculated whether this abnormality had any impact on the cause of
her death. Carbon-14 dating suggests that she died in the first century
A.D.
Fortunately, scientists hired a medical artist to reconstruct her
face. This gives us an idea of what she looked like near the time of her
death and brings her back to life, so to speak.
Yde
Girl's face has been reconstructed by a medical artist.
