Archaeology+and+ScienceWindeby1

= Archaeology and Science =

The introduction of forensic sciences and modern technology has had a huge impact on the archaeology and continued preservation of bog bodies. Previously, no one could tell whether a body had been in a bog for thousands of years or 12 months. Now there are processes such as radiocarbon dating to determine the persons age at death, how long since they were buried and other details. This technology means that scientists can study the skin of bog bodies, digitally reconstruct their faces and appearance and even see what their last meal was by looking at the stomach contents. Scientific inferences can be made from this information and archaeologists have been able to find where the body spent most of its life, how its died and its general diet.

These techniques have been on Windeby 1 with the main being the facial reconstruction and her time of death (C14 dated beween 41 and 118 AD). Her stomach was empty but the most important scientific discovery with Windeby 1 was that 'she' was a 16 year old boy! DNA proved it and so Wideby Girl had to be renamed Windeby 1.

Windeby 1 main page