Osterby Man. Mummified head of Osterby Man, a \bog body\" dated between 70-220 AD. His well-preserved hair is tied in a Swabian knot. This severed hea

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Osterby Man. Mummified head of Osterby Man, a \bog body\" dated between 70-220 AD. His well-preserved hair is tied in a Swabian knot. This severed head was discovered in 1948 wrapped in a deerskin cape in a bog at Kohlmoor near Osterby, Germany. This elderly man had 25 cm long hair. The hairstyle, a Swabian knot, named after the male coiffure of the period in that part of Germany, was described by the Roman author Tacitus in his book Germania (98 AD). Many ancient bog bodies of northwest Europe met violent deaths by murder or religious sacrifice. Low temperature and oxygen, and tannins in bogs led to the mummification."

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Size: 3504px × 4554px
Photo credit: © ARCHAEOLOGISCHES LANDESMUSEUM, GERMANY/MUNOZ-YAGUE/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No

Keywords: anthropology, body, bog, fossil, hairstyle, hominid, hominids, hominin, knot, man, mummy, osterby, palaeoanthropology, palaeontology, paleoanthropology, paleontology, swabian