Damendorf Man
Damendorf Man | |
|---|---|
 Damendorf Man on display at the Archaeological State Museum at Schloss Gottorf | |
| Born | Unknown |
| Died | 135–335 AD Seemoor near Damendorf, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany |
Body discovered | 28 May 1900 Seemoor near Damendorf, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany |
Resting place | Archaeological State Museum at Schloss Gottorf, Schleswig, Germany |
| Known for | Flattened bog body from the Roman Iron Age |
Damendorf Man is a German bog body discovered in 1900[1] in the See Moor at the village of Damendorf in Schleswig-Holstein, Germany. Radiocarbon analysis places his death between 135 and 335 AD, during the era of the Roman Empire. The body is notable for its remarkable state of preservation. Over centuries, the weight of accumulating peat compressed the corpse into a thin, flattened silhouette, leaving the skin, hair, and clothing intact while most bones collapsed or decayed. The find included a leather belt, shoes, fragments of woollen breeches, and a pair of woollen puttees.
The remains, one of the most visually striking bog bodies from Schleswig-Holstein, are on permanent display at the Archäologisches Landesmuseum at Schloss Gottorf.
Discovery
[edit]Damendorf Man was discovered in the Seemoor, a peat bog located about 200 metres (660 ft) east of the village of Damendorf and roughly 1,500 metres (4,900 ft) northwest of Groß Wittensee, within the Hüttener Berge region of Schleswig-Holstein. The bog covers around 23 hectares (57 acres) and was historically used for cutting peat as a household fuel.[2][3] Today it is a protected wetland and designated nature experience area, traversed by a circular trail of about 2.5 kilometres (1.6 mi).[4][5]
On 28 May 1900, two peat cutters working on land owned by a local innkeeper named Hagge uncovered fragments of woollen clothing at a depth of roughly 2.5 to 3 metres (8.2 to 9.8 ft). As they continued digging, they exposed the body of a man preserved in the bog.[6][3][1] The workers reported the find to the local headman, Sye, who passed the information to the district administrator, Freiherr von der Reck. Von der Reck immediately telegraphed the discovery to the Museum vaterländischer Alterthümer in Kiel. In response, museum curator Dr. Splieth and von der Reck travelled to Damendorf to examine and secure the remains.[6][3]
After inspecting the find, they arranged to purchase it from Hagge. The body was carefully packed, transported to the museum, and arrived in Kiel on 1 June 1900, where conservators began the first stages of preservation.[6][3]
Prior to the discovery of Damendorf Man, the remains of what are believed to be a woman were found in the same bog in 1884, although only the clothing survived.[7][3] Another body, that of Damendorf Girl, dating to 810 BCE, was discovered in 1934.[7][3]
Condition
[edit]Damendorf Man is notable for the extreme compression of his remains. Over nearly two millennia, the accumulating weight of the peat gradually flattened him into a thin, almost two-dimensional silhouette. By the time he was discovered in 1900, only the toes retained their original three-dimensional form, while the remainder measured only a few centimetres in thickness.[3][8]
Despite this extreme compression, the bog preserved much of his soft tissue. Large areas of leathery brown skin remained, together with his hair, fingernails, and clothing, while the acidic, oxygen-poor environment caused most of the skeleton to lose its mineral content and collapse. The skin bears numerous tears and splits, probably resulting from centuries of compression within the peat as well as handling during excavation and early conservation.[3][8][9]
The head, torso, arms, and legs nevertheless remained in their original anatomical positions, allowing researchers to identify the body's orientation and interpret surviving internal structures despite its altered shape.[3]
Clothing and associated items
[edit]
When Damendorf Man was discovered on 28 May 1900, he was still wearing much of the clothing he had worn about 1,700–1,900 years earlier. His surviving garments included fragments of woollen breeches, woollen puttees wrapped around his lower legs, leather shoes, and a leather belt fastened around his waist. Together, these items form one of the most complete surviving examples of Roman Iron Age clothing from Schleswig-Holstein.[10][8][9][3]
His woollen breeches were finished with decorative tablet-woven bands, a strong, tightly woven trim used to reinforce seams and edges. Studies of the surviving fragments have allowed researchers to reconstruct how his trousers were cut, sewn, and worn, providing valuable evidence of clothing-making techniques in northern Germany during the Roman Iron Age.[11][10][3]
He also wore woollen puttees, long strips of cloth wrapped around the lower legs for warmth and support. The surviving pair provides evidence of how the lower legs were covered beneath the breeches during the Roman Iron Age.[3][10]
His shoes were made from leather shaped and fastened around the feet. Similar forms of footwear have been recovered from other archaeological sites in northern Europe.[12][3][10]
The leather belt remained fastened around his waist when the body was recovered. Because the garments survived with Damendorf Man rather than as isolated textile fragments, researchers have been able to reconstruct how his clothing was made, assembled, and worn during the Roman Iron Age.[3][11][8]
Scientific study
[edit]Professor P. V. Glob originally suggested that Damendorf Man had died around 300 BCE, based on archaeological comparisons available at the time.[13] In 2004, radiocarbon dating of an associated woollen textile placed his death between 135 and 335 CE, during the Roman Iron Age. Because the fragile sample could not undergo the full chemical pretreatment normally used before analysis, researchers noted that some contamination could not be ruled out.[9][3]
More than a century after his discovery in 1900, Damendorf Man was re-examined using computed tomography (CT), which showed that more of his body had survived than previously thought. Although nearly 2,000 years in the peat had compressed him to a thickness of only 1 to 4 centimetres (0.39 to 1.57 in), the scans identified parts of his pelvis, together with preserved brain tissue and possible intestinal remains within the flattened body.[3]
Later re-examination also led to a reassessment of his injuries. Early investigators interpreted many tears and openings in his skin as evidence of stab wounds. Later studies concluded that most were more likely caused by centuries of pressure in the peat, or by excavation and conservation after his discovery, leaving only a possible wound near his heart as a candidate injury.[3]
Researchers also analysed Damendorf Man's preserved hair. Chemical analysis found unusually high concentrations of mercury and lead, which Gill-Robinson suggested may reflect exposure during the working or gilding of gold or silver. She cautioned, however, that the available evidence was insufficient to identify his occupation with certainty.[3]
Exhibition
[edit]The remains are on display at the Archäologisches Landesmuseum at Schloss Gottorf in Schleswig.[3][8][6]
References
[edit]
- 1 2 Aldhouse-Green, Miranda (2015-09-08). Bog Bodies Uncovered: Solving Europe's Ancient Mystery. Thames & Hudson. ISBN 978-0-500-77298-0.
- ↑ "Seemoor". Strassenkatalog.de. Retrieved 2011-12-05.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Gill-Robinson, Heather Catherine (2005). The Iron Age Bog Bodies of the Archäologisches Landesmuseum, Schloss Gottorf, Schleswig, Germany (PhD thesis). Winnipeg: University of Manitoba.
- ↑ "Damendorf". Amt Hüttener Berge. Retrieved 2020-04-27.
- ↑ Karl Kersten (1949), Institut für Ur- und Frühgeschichte der Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel (ed.), "Ein Moorleichenfund von Osterby bei Eckernförde", Offa. Berichte u. Mitteilungen zur Urgeschichte, Frühgeschichte u. Mittelalterarchäologie, vol. 8, Neumünster: Wachholtz, pp. 1, Abb. 1, ISSN 0078-3714
- 1 2 3 4 Johanna Mestorf (1900), "Moorleichen", Bericht des Museums Vaterländischer Altertümer bei der Universität Kiel, vol. 42, Kiel: Lipsius & Tischer, pp. 3–10 Erstpublikation
- 1 2 Van der Sanden, Wijnand (1996). Through Nature to Eternity. p. 104.
- 1 2 3 4 5 Aufderheide, Arthur C., ed. (1998). "Bog Bodies of Denmark and Northwestern Europe". Mummies, Disease and Ancient Cultures. Cambridge University Press.
- 1 2 3 van der Plicht, Johannes; van der Sanden, Wijnand A. B. (2004). "Radiocarbon Dating of Bog Bodies from Northwest Europe". Journal of Archaeological Science. 31 (4): 471–491. doi:10.1016/j.jas.2003.08.011.
- 1 2 3 4 "Bodies of the Bogs: Clothing and Hair Styles". Archaeology. Retrieved 28 July 2026.
- 1 2 Thunem, Hilde (10 March 2024). "Viking Men: Trousers and Breeches". Recreating Viking Clothing. Retrieved 28 July 2026.
- ↑ "Damendorf Shoes". Res Rarae. Retrieved 28 July 2026.
- ↑ Glob, P. V. (1969). The Bog People: Iron-Age Man Preserved.