The Meenybradden Woman

 

On May 3, 1978 turf cutters in Meenybradden Bod near Ardara, Ireland would find the body of a woman. It was found that the remains were of historical means. Her body would be kept in Dublin's city morgue and stayed in a freezer where the body was damaged. In July 1985 the body would be shipped to the British Museum and examined further.

It's believed that the woman was around 25 to 30 years old and died 1050-1410 CE. It is unknown how she died, but she didn't die violently. She was buried about a meter deep into the bog. It was strange that she was wrapped in a cloak dated by textile typology to the 16 to 17th centuries. However, the cloak was not carbon-dated and it's possible that it was from around the time she died. 

SOURCES:

Wikipedia

Mummipedia

Agnaiyaaq or Little Girl

 

In 1994 Coastal Erosion exposed the body of a little girl at Ukkuqsi in the old whaling village of Utqiagvik in Alaska. The little girl was between 5 to 8 years old and lived and died between 800 and 1200. She was a member of the Thule people. Her name was lost, but she is known now as Agnaiyaaq or Little Girl. 

The little girl was loved in life. She was chronically sick in her short life. It was found that she had lung damage due to emphysema, and a rare congenital disorder, alpha-1-antitrypsin deficiency. Though she was chronically sick her body and burial showed signs that she was well-loved. 

She had evidence in her lungs that she spent much of her life by fire and being cared for and chewing on leather trying to soften them. A little girl helping her family. She however only had clay, leather, and fur in her stomach. It's not believed that she was intentionally starved, but that she and her clan were starving at the time of her death.

With a mixture of her illness and starvation, the girl would pass away. She would be laid to rest carefully. She was buried with a small toboggan made of whale bone likely used to help move her and wrapped in her fur parka. She was then buried in a cold cellar. 

After her scientific look at her body, she was then laid to rest by the Inuit people in Barrow, Alaska. 

SOURCES:

Jstor

Mummipedia

Seattle Times October 1995

Lemon Grove Girls

 

photo

In 1966 a couple of teenage boys were obsessed with archeology. They heard of how in Mexico people were buried or mummified in caves. The boys would spend over a month exploring the caves of Chihuahua, Mexico for a discovery. They were successful in doing so as they discovered a pregnant mother and her child. In order to not be caught they would smuggle the remains over the border to Lemon Grove, California. The boys could not show off their discovery or turn the bodies over to a museum because what they had done was illegal. 

When the two were drafted they asked a friend if they could store the box in their garage. More than likely it was unknown to the friend what was inside the box. In 1980 the friend's mother opened the box while cleaning the garage. She was horrified at the sight and called the police. Where everything was discovered.

The remains were discovered to have lived and died between AD 1040 and AD 1260. The bodies were then donated to the San Diego Museum of Man and the Mexican Government decided to grant the U.S.  custody of them.

The mother was estimated to be around 15-years-old and was around 7 months pregnant and close to giving birth. The infant girl was around 1. It's not stated if the two were related. It's not believed that they were purposly buried. The teenage girl laid with her arms over her head.

One refrence states that a CT scanof the young woman revealed a dislocated shoulder, ossified hematoma on the back of the head, indicating blunt force trauma, and a dislocated hip. These injuries are similar to a fall, and she had died soon after.

Another refrences don't mention their deaths, but that it was suspected from their positions that they may have died in their sleep. 

SOURCES:

Atlas Obscura

Ancient Orgins

The Lemon Grove Mummies

Mumipedia

Murder of 12th/13th century Archer

Archeologists were investigating the historic Kirk Ness, which was the site of a church and cemetery in North Berwick, Scotland. The dig was organized by the Scottish Seabird Centre and latterly supported by Historic Scotland. It revealed structural remains including stone tools, lead objects, ceramic material, and butchered bones of seals and sea birds. This suggests that it was once a settlement.

One discovery was that the skeletal remains of a young man from the 12th or 13th centuries were found. He was over 20-years-old with a slightly better build than average. He had worn to his shoulder that suggests that he might have been an archer.

His death was brutal and seemed to have been professional. He had been fatally stabbed four times in the back, twice in the left shoulder, and twice in the ribs. The injuries suggested that the weapon used was a dagger-like weapon with symmetrical lozenge-shaped sections with sharp edges and at least 2.75 inches long. This suggests that the weapon may have been a dagger that was a specialist military weapon carried mainly by military men. With the weapon and the accuracy of the stab wounds pots towards a degree of professionalism and arguably a degree of calculation.

SOURCES:
Archeology Magazine

BBC February 21, 2014

The Herald February 21, 2014

The Mirror February 21, 2014

The Courier and Advertiser February 22, 2014

Murder of Bocksten Man

In the 1880s a farm called Bocksten in Varberg Municipality, Sweden was created near a bog. The bog had been regularly drained and a harrow was used to gather peat by the owner Albert Johansson. A leather shoe was found in the wetland and donated to the Varberg County Museum, and later a shoe sole was also found in the bog.

On June 22, 1936, Albert's son Thur found a body while gathering peat. His harrow got caught on sackcloth. When Thur examined what he was hitting he saw parts of a skeleton. The next day Albert and Thur went and notified the police and doctor. It was then realized that the body was not recent and too old to be of investigation.

Johan Albert Sandklef, the director of Varberg County Museum, took over the body. He would invite others to help investigate the bog body that would eventually be called the Bocksten Man. They would measure and photograph the area before excavating.

The upper parts of the man passed through the harrow and were badly damaged. The lower parts stayed intact though. Though the body had been damaged his body is considered one of the best-preserved finds in Europe in that Era.

 It's believed he had been hit at the lower jaw, then the right ear, and then the lethal hit was towards the back of his head. He was then pushed to where he was found and impaled with three wooden poles used for roofing to the bottom of the bog. 

Bocksten Man's inner organs, parts of the lungs, liver, brain, and cartilage were preserved. It's believed that he's between 25 and 40 (more likely 35 to 40), but could be up to 60-years-old. He was 170 to 180 cm (5'7" to 5'11") tall with a slender build. His tunic was well-preserved, one of the best-preserved from that time. It was made of woollen fabric. He was wearing a gugel hood that was  90cm long and 2cm wide liripipe. He was wearing a shirt and a cloak and his legs were covered by hosiery. He had a fabric bag, foot coverings, leather shoes, a belt, a leather sheath and two knives. The sheath was 40mm wide and 62mm long, it was composed of 3 layers with a combined saltire and St. George's Cross carved on the outer layer. The inner laver had a similar pattern was carved, but with a pole added

The time he died was based on his clothing it's believed that he may have died between 1290 to 1430. His stature and items/clothing found with him makes it believed he was an upper class or a merchant.  It's also suggested that he was a tax collector or soldier recruiter. 

According to Albert Sandklef a local farmer, Karl Andersson, had heard of legend from when he was a child. His father was told bt two older people that a soldier recruiter was killed by local peasants. His body was put in the bog, but his ghost would haunt the area. So in order to stop it, poles were stuck into the body. Albert Sandklef asked other locals of this, but no one claimed to have heard of the story.

It's believed he had been hit at the lower jaw, then the right ear, and then the lethal hit was towards the back of his head. He was then pushed to where he was found and impaled with three wooden poles used for roofing to the bottom of the bog.

SOURCES:

Wikipedia

Mummipedia

Ancient Origins