Researchers in Denmark from the University of Copenhagen are continuing the examination of 3,400-year old Egtved girl that was originally discovered during the travel of other scientists in 1921. The body of the Egtved girl, who is thought to have been between 16-and 18-years old, was found in an ancient burial mound in the village of Egtved, Denmark.
While there was not much left of the body of the Egtved girl, scientists had remnants of her teeth, hair, nails and skin, as well as her clothing and an elegant bronze medallion belt buckle. With the inclusion of the bronze medallion and the finely made woolen clothing, it was believed that the Egtved girl was some sort of Bronze Age Sun priestess.
Egtved Girl Believed to Travel Much in Last Part of Her Life
The Egtved girl was buried in an oak coffin in a peat bog burial mound along with the body of a small child, as well as a bucket made of bark that was believed to have had beer in it. Special chemicals were used on the remains that showed the researchers that even though she was buried in Denmark, it appeared that the girl had been the subject of travel to several places in the last 2 years she lived. It also showed the scientists that the girl’s diet didn’t include much protein in it.
This showed the researchers that it is possible that people who lived during the Bronze Age were more mobile than previously believed. It is thought that the Egtved girl and the small child buried with her could have come from somewhere outside of the Jutland peninsula in Denmark, possible as far away as the Black Forest area of Germany.
Special Isotopes Help Scientists Analyze Egtved girl
The scientists were able to analyze the girl’s remains, as well as her clothing and the other articles that were found with her through strontium isotopes, which when examined, show the differences in the amount of atom neutrons of specific elements, and that helps to show where she lived and traveled before her death.
In addition, the scientists used her hair, which was about nine inches long, and estimated it would grow at about 0.4 inches a month to show the last two years of data from her life. Her teeth were also examined and showed that she had been far from Denmark at least six months prior to her death, and the Egtved girl likely died right after getting to Denmark.
