Skrydstrup Woman

The Skrydstrup Woman was unearthed from a tumulus in southern Jutland in Denmark in 1935. As of 2017 carbon-14 dating showed that she had died between 1382 and 1129 BCE; examination also revealed that she was around 18–19 years old at the time of death, and that she had been buried in the summertime.

Skrydstrup Woman

Excavation of burial mound

Skrydstrup Woman's burial mound

Museum Sønderjylland's manager Christian M. Lund was responsible for the excavation of the burial mound. It was found 1 kilometre (0.62 mi) southwest of Vojens. The mound was on a bed of stone and covered with turf. It measured 13 meters (43 ft) in diameter and 1.75 meters (5.7 ft) high. Two men had been later placed in similar coffins at the edge of the burial mound. The mound was covered by a larger turf mound 24 meters (79 ft) in diameter and 4 meters (13 ft) high. The carbon 14 dating to around 1300 BCE is contemporaneous with a house plot on the Bronze Age farm in Skrydstrup 700 meters (2,300 ft) northeast of the mound, which may have been her residence.

Appearance

Reconstruction of hairstyle

She was buried in a short-sleeved woolen linen blouse with embroidery on the sleeves and neckline. A large square cloth of wool, gathered at the top with a belt, covered her from the waist to the feet. Attached to the belt was an ornate horn comb. The clothes were made of wool from a dark, reddish-brown sheep. The only jewelry was her large spiral earrings of 24 karat gold, which along with the blouse indicated she was of higher class. Her ash blonde hair was about 60 centimetres (24 in) long and held in a complex hairstyle. Covering the hair was a fine hair net of unbraided horse hair made with the sprang technique, which was attached to an almost 5 meters (16 ft) long woolen cord at the front and back. The string was wrapped several times around the head so that it sat like a headband and held the hairstyle and hairnet securely in place.

Professor Karin Frei from the National Museum of Denmark described her as an elegant, queen-like figure.

Origin and life

A study published in 2019 alleged that the Skrydstrup Woman was possibly from beyond the modern borders of Denmark. Research from 2017 had suggested that she could have come from the Czech Republic, southern Germany, France or Sweden. However, later studies has shown that the mulch taken for determining her origin had been contaminated with modern samples and it is now agreed widely that she was born and spent her life in the Skrydstrup area.

See also

• Borum Eshøj
• Egtved Girl
• Haraldskær Woman
• List of unsolved deaths
• Mummy
• Tollund Man

Bibliography

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