Huldremose Woman

Or Huldre Fen Woman, is a female bog body recovered in 1879 from a peat bog near Ramten, Jutland, Denmark.

On 15 May 1879, the body was discovered by an unknown worker working in Ramten, Denmark, after digging a meter through the peat.

Clad in wool and sheepskin, this over-40 warrior or sacrifice—her right arm severed—offers a gritty glimpse into the intriguing past of Northern Europe.

Analysis by Carbon 14 dating indicates that she lived during the Iron Age, sometime between 160 BCE and 340 CE. The mummified remains are exhibited at the National Museum of Denmark. The elaborate clothing worn by Huldremose Woman has been reconstructed and displayed at several museums.

Unlike many other bog bodies, which are often found naked, the Huldremose Woman was found clothed with an array of accessories. Analysis of these items, including the rare evidence of plant fibre textile, has shown that peoples of the Scandinavian Early Iron Age had knowledge of and used a wide but previously unrecognized range of textile weaving and dyeing technologies, as well as animal skin technologies. Her clothing has undergone extensive analysis by scientists at the Danish National Research Foundation’s Center of Textile Research and the National Museum of Denmark.

Huldremose woman wore several layered sheep skin capes with the woolly sides turned outward. These were of a complex construction:

“The two skin capes are made from well-prepared, curly fleeces. The outer cape is the largest, measuring 82 cm in height and 170 cm in width . It is constructed of five primary, rectangular skin pieces, with two minor triangular pieces under the yoke. Most pieces are from dark sheep skin, but on the fur side, it has an insertion of four light goat skin pieces. On the flesh side, it has an upper, front lining of dark sheep skin, which is a unique detail. The inner cape is slightly smaller, measuring 80 cm in height and 150 cm in width . It is constructed of 7-8 primary sheep skin pieces, mostly rectangular and 22 secondary patches of sheep, goat and deer skin. Both capes have an asymmetrical design with a slanting neckline.”

She also wore a wool plaid scarf, fastened by a bird bone pin, and a wool plaid skirt. Analysis by scientists at the National Museum of Denmark has shown that the colour of the skirt was originally a blue or purple plaid, while the scarf was a red plaid. Chemical dye analyses showed the use of natural plant dyes and mordants and revealed that threads of at least 5 colours were woven to create the complex plaid patterns. Impressions on the skin of the Huldremose Woman, as well as a small amount of surviving degraded fibres, suggest that below her wool clothing, she wore a white inner garment made from plant fibres that reached from the shoulders to below the knees. The type of plant fiber is unclear but other evidence from the time period suggests that it could have been made of nettle. A horn comb, a leather thong, and wool textile headband were found as well in what appears to be a pocket on the inner cape, made out of a bladder.

In a 2009 study led by Dr. Karin Frei, Huldremose Woman and the set of clothing she wore underwent strontium isotopic analysis. This research indicated that the wool scarf has a local provenance. The wool skirt was found to be made of wool from at least three different provenances, including a local signature and a signature compatible with northern Scandinavia (e.g. Norway or Sweden). The plant fibre garment and the Huldremose Woman herself likely have a non-local origin, again showing compatibility with northern Scandinavia. In general, the study points to the possibility that textiles were either traded or brought as raw materials far more commonly and over longer distances than previously ᴀssumed.

The Huldremose Woman: One of the best preserved and best dressed bog bodies

More than 500 bodies and skeletons were buried in the peat bogs in Denmark between 800 B.C. and A.D. 200.

In 1879, Niels Hanson, a school teacher in Ramten, was digging peat turfs from a peat bog near Ramten, Jutland, Denmark. While doing this, he recovered a bog body of an elderly Iron Age woman. The body became known as “Huldremose Woman” or “Huldre Fen Woman”.

Upper body of the Huldremose Woman. PH๏τo Credit — *The upper body of the Huldremose Woman. PH๏τo Credit*

*The woman was more than 40 years old when she ended up in the bog. PH๏τo Credit*

Supposedly, the woman had pᴀssed away sometime between 160 B.C. and 340 A.D. It is believed that she lived at least 40 years, which to the standards of the time was a very long life. Like most of the bog bodies found in Denmark, the woman from Huldremose was fully clothed.

More than 130 years after its discovery, it remains one of the best preserved and best-dressed bog bodies. This discovery offered a rare opportunity to understand the clothing of the Iron Age in Northern Europe and Scandinavia.

*The clothing of Huldremose Woman. PH๏τo Credit1 PH๏τo Credit2*

She was dressed in a costume consisting of a woollen skirt (tied at the waist with a thin leather strap inserted into a woven waistband), a woollen scarf (139-144 cm in length and 49 cm in width, wrapped around the woman’s neck and fastened under her left arm with a pin made from a bird bone) and two skin capes.

*The clothes are well preserved, despite being almost 2000 years old. PH๏τo Credit1 PH๏τo Credit2*

The fur coats she was wrapped in were made from the skin of 14 sheep. The sewn-in objects have probably functioned as amulets. Not only was her costume of high quality; it was also colored in a mulтιтude of colors. olor analysis has shown that originally the skirt was blue and the scarf was in red color.

The finding of the woman has encouraged many different debates and interpretations over the years. Medical analysis revealed that she had received a cut to her upper arm, removing her arm from the rest of her body before she was deposited in the peat.

*A violent cut with a sharp tool had almost severed her right upper arm before she died. PH๏τo Credit*

It was previously believed that the cut to the arm was the cause of death and the woman died as a result of a subsequent loss of blood. However, later forensic analysis found evidence of strangulation, her hair was tied with a long woolen rope, which was also wrapped around her neck several times.

Here is another story from us:Grauballe Man: Exceptionally preserved bog body that might be an evidence of a 2,300-year-old murder

The mummified remains are exhibited at the National Museum of Denmark and the elaborate clothing worn by the Huldremose Woman has been reconstructed and displayed at several museums.

*The upper body of the Huldremose Woman. PH๏τo Credit*

*The woman was more than 40 years old when she ended up in the bog. PH๏τo Credit*

Supposedly, the woman had pᴀssed away sometime between 160 B.C. and 340 A.D. It is believed that she lived at least 40 years, which to the standards of the time was a very long life. Like most of the bog bodies found in Denmark, the woman from Huldremose was fully clothed.

More than 130 years after its discovery, it remains one of the best preserved and best-dressed bog bodies. This discovery offered a rare opportunity to understand the clothing of the Iron Age in Northern Europe and Scandinavia.

*The clothing of Huldremose Woman. PH๏τo Credit1 PH๏τo Credit2*

She was dressed in a costume consisting of a woollen skirt (tied at the waist with a thin leather strap inserted into a woven waistband), a woollen scarf (139-144 cm in length and 49 cm in width, wrapped around the woman’s neck and fastened under her left arm with a pin made from a bird bone) and two skin capes.

*The clothes are well preserved, despite being almost 2000 years old. PH๏τo Credit1 PH๏τo Credit2*

The fur coats she was wrapped in were made from the skin of 14 sheep. The sewn-in objects have probably functioned as amulets. Not only was her costume of high quality; it was also colored in a mulтιтude of colors. olor analysis has shown that originally the skirt was blue and the scarf was in red color.

The finding of the woman has encouraged many different debates and interpretations over the years. Medical analysis revealed that she had received a cut to her upper arm, removing her arm from the rest of her body before she was deposited in the peat.

*A violent cut with a sharp tool had almost severed her right upper arm before she died. PH๏τo Credit*

It was previously believed that the cut to the arm was the cause of death and the woman died as a result of a subsequent loss of blood. However, later forensic analysis found evidence of strangulation, her hair was tied with a long woolen rope, which was also wrapped around her neck several times.

Here is another story from us:Grauballe Man: Exceptionally preserved bog body that might be an evidence of a 2,300-year-old murder

The mummified remains are exhibited at the National Museum of Denmark and the elaborate clothing worn by the Huldremose Woman has been reconstructed and displayed at several museums.

The Huldremose Woman: One of the best preserved and best dressed bog bodies

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