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Yde Girl
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Featured October 31 , 2007
They fled in terror when the remains of Yde Girl were dredged up from the bog. Her long reddish-blonde hair, bright against the dull peat, made them think they'd found the devil himself. The ones who were bold enough to return came back only to superstitiously bury her under piles of their cut turf. It was 12 May 1897 near the tiny village of Yde in Bourtangermoor, Netherlands, a day that some will never forget.
The peatcutters accidentally sliced her in half, destroying her torso. Yet she was supposedly very well-preserved when her thousand-year sleep was disturbed. The tannic acid in the marsh water preserved her skin and facial features. Ignorance and the mists of error caused her body to be brutally mishandled. She lay under the peat stacks for nine days before the local mayor, a man with a scientific curiosity, arrived on the scene. The body was dragged out for his examination. He scribbled some notes and sifted through the bog to search for the missing pieces. A hand, a foot and part of her pelvis was recovered. The mayor sent word to Drents Museum about this discovery. By the time the investigators arrived two weeks later, some of the more daring residents of the village had done some relic-hunting of their own, pulling out hair, teeth and even snatching away a few bones. What was left of Yde Girl was taken to Drents, put on display, and mostly forgotten. It wasn't until 1992 that a renewed interest in bog bodies inspired a scientific study of Yde Girl's remains. Carbon 14 dated her death between 54 BC and 128 AD. Professor Richard Neave of Manchester University performed CT-scans on her head. Analysis of her skull and remaining tooth showed that she was about 16 years old when she died. Her wisdom teeth had not yet rooted. Blackberry seeds found in her intestines indicated that her death occurred in autumn. Her wisdom teeth had not yet rooted. Curvature of the spine accounted for her diminuitive stature. She would have stood only 4.5 feet tall. Her right foot appeared swollen, as if she walked favoring her left leg. One side of her hair had been shaved just before she was killed. The scoliosis which stunted her growth and probably caused her limping gait, may or may not have been the reason why she was strangled, stabbed and laid to rest in the bog. When Yde Girl was found, she was clad in a very worn and mended woolen cape. A woolen belt, slipknotted and wrapped three times around her neck, apparently strangled her to death. A small stab wound at the base of her throat was not likely the cause of death. Despite the fact that she was stabbed and strangled, her expression is serene. Examination of her one hand showed no marks or wounds that would have been made if she fought to defend herself. She was probably drugged and killed while unconscious. Using pathology, CT scans and plastic surgery, Professor Neave created a reconstruction of Yde Girl's head, which brought her worldwide fame.   Resources: http://www.mummytombs.com wikipedia Photos: www.bgfl.org/bgfl/custom/resources_ftp/client_ftp/ks3/science/bog/yde.htm http://carnegiemuseums.org/cmag/bk_issue/2005/summer/feature4.html |
Hearthstone
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