Archaeology: The life story of a Bronze Age
female *IMAGES*
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Scientific Reports
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Archaeology
Embargo
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London: Thursday 21 May 2015 10:00 (BST)
New York: Thursday 21 May 2015 05:00 (EDT)
Tokyo: Thursday 21 May 2015 18:00 (JST)
Sydney: Thursday 21 May 2015 19:00 (AEST)
A detailed analysis of the remains of a high-status Danish Bronze Age female, known as the
Egtved Girl, reveals information about her movements, what she ate, and where her clothes
came from. It seems that the Egtved Girl originated from a place outside present-day
Denmark and travelled back and forth over large distances during last two years of her life.
The findings, published in Scientific Reports this week, offer insights into the movements of
high-status
European
Bronze
Age
individuals.
The Egtved Girl, a 16–18 year old female, was discovered in the Danish village of Egtved in
an oak coffin, calculated to have been buried around 3,400 years ago. Her well-preserved
hair, teeth, nails and clothes have enabled Karin M Frei and colleagues to trace the life story
of this iconic female. Ratios of different strontium isotopes in the tooth enamel do not match
up with characteristic ranges in Denmark, indicating that she did not originate from Denmark.
Isotopic analysis of the wool used to make her clothes indicates that it was gathered from
outside present-day Denmark. The authors suggest that the girl and her garments may have
originated from the Black Forest in south-western Germany, although they cannot rule out
other
parts
of
Europe.
Her 23-cm long hair provides a record of her movements during at least the last 23 months of
her life. Isotope signatures in the most recent hair segment (grown in the last 4-6 months of
her life) and in her fingernails imply that she travelled from a place distant to Egtved shortly
before to her death. Further analysis of her hair shows that she had a varied terrestrial diet
with intervals of reduced protein intake.
Article and author details
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Tracing the dynamic life story of a Bronze Age Female
Corresponding Author
Karin M Frei
National Museum of Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark
Email: Karin.M.Frei@natmus.dk, Tel: +45 41 20 61 81
DOI
10.1038/srep10431
Online paper*
http://nature.com/articles/doi:10.1038/srep10431
* Please link to the article in online versions of your report (the URL will go live after the embargo
ends).
Geographical listings of authors
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Australia
, Denmark
, Sweden
& United Kingdom
IMAGES
Image 1:
Sampling wool from the Egtved Girl's outfit at the National Museum of Denmark. Karin M. Frei and
Irene Skals sampling wool threads from the Bronze Age Egtved Girl’s well preserved outfit. The
strontium isotope analyses of the samples reveal that her entire wool garment was made of non-local
wool.
Credit: Karin Margarita Frei, National Museum of Denmark.
Image 2:
A photo of the remains of a Bronze Age high status female found inside an oak-coffin in a
monumental burial barrow at Egtved, Denmark. The Egtved Girl’s garments are extremely well
preserved and her exceptional wool costume consists of several wool textile pieces as well as a discshaped bronze belt plate, symbolizing the sun.
Credit: Roberto Fortuna, with kind permission of the National Museum of Denmark.
Image 3:
Egtved Girl's fingernail from right hand. Digital microscope image of the fingernail from the Bronze
Age Egtved Girl’s right hand. Three small sample segments in the direction of the nails growth were
analyzed for their strontium isotope signatures to reconstruct the Egtved Girl’s mobility during her
approximately last 6 months of her life. These samples reveal long distance mobility up to her death.
Credit: Karin Margarita Frei, National Museum of Denmark.
Image 4:
Egtved Girl's scalp hair and remains of her brain. Close up image of the Bronze Age Egtved Girl’s
scalp hair and brain remains as well as her well preserved costume.
Credit: Karin Margarita Frei, National Museum of Denmark.