In romantic fiction there is a popular plot type known as 'woman in jeopardy' and the discovery of the Egtved Girl seems to have fitted the plot very well. I recently watched a documentary on her, which was okay but mingled with the science was the possible drama of her short life.
She was young, strong and very courageous, but she met an untimely demise in the summer of 1370 BC. Many were saddened by her death and devastated by the loss. This documentary film is a spectacular time travel to a more or less unknown epoch of humanity - the Bronze Age. It answers the all of the questions this age and lifts the veil of mystery surrounding the girl from Egtved.
To my mind the drama was too prominent, depicting among other things a young actress setting off from home then struggling through forests or gaily pushing a wooden cart with a few other Bronze Age hippies or bathing naked in a lake.
Her grave was a fascinating archaeological discovery in itself, but in terms of media interest it was much more fascinating once it appeared to be scientifically established that she came not from Egtved where she was buried, but an area we now know as the Black Forest hundreds of miles away. Not only that, but she apparently did the journey a number of times. Hence the 'woman in jeopardy' enthusiasm.
Her grave was a fascinating archaeological discovery in itself, but in terms of media interest it was much more fascinating once it appeared to be scientifically established that she came not from Egtved where she was buried, but an area we now know as the Black Forest hundreds of miles away. Not only that, but she apparently did the journey a number of times. Hence the 'woman in jeopardy' enthusiasm.
It's a complex issue, but put very briefly this huge journey was established using bioavailable strontium isotope ratios in her tooth enamel and hair which derived from food she consumed and particularly from the water she drank. And the beer of course. These strontium ratios are characteristic of particular geological areas. Suitable DNA samples were not available, her corpse being almost completely decayed.
Fair enough, but my immediate reaction was to check the science behind those strontium ratios. The distance she supposedly covered more than once could cast at least some shadow of doubt on the strontium method and so it turns out. There are also concerns about sampling areas where farming has contaminated the soils.
It's an interesting story, and even some of the professionals in the documentary were clearly enthused about the drama of it. Nothing wrong with that, the point of doing the science is to elucidate a story. Makes it worth doing, but it does highlight how willing we are to weave science into stories which are merely one possibility and not necessarily the most likely.
7 comments:
Is that first link right?
Other people often have interesting backstories which you rarely hear about.
Our French master at grammar school, Mr Lawrence, was awarded the Legion of Honor for his service as a fighter ace. We didn't know until his death announcement in school.
Our French teacher was known by all of us to have "been in the Resistance". Since he was British he presumably served in the SOE.
Consequently he could sport a beard and beret without anyone taking the mick.
James - oops, thanks, now corrected.
DJ and dearieme - our English teacher was reputed to have been there when Belsen was liberated, but he never spoke about it and we never wanted to ask.
I've always thought that Archaeology and the study of anything before Roman times was largely a matter of creative guesswork. A huge edifice of speculation based on a very narrow foundation of factual evidence. If in doubt, say something was used for religious or ceremonial purposes.
There's a short story idea for you, AKH. A tribe or group of people who deliberately seed their environment with misleading artefacts and evidence in order to bugger about the archaeologists and historians of the future.
SamV. Like big spinning Mercedes logos and solar panels used as heliographs to communicate with star people.
Sam - and the edifice of speculation often captures public imagination and no doubt that draws in more support and funds. I like the short story idea. A tribe buries lots of flint arrow heads when actually they were using a kind of wooden machine gun.
Doonhamer - Mercedes logos are pretty big already. They must be part of an ancient collective unconscious.
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