BOG BODIES
When Lindow Man was discovered in 1984 he was hailed as Britain's first bog body. In fact, as this
book shows, at least 236 bodies of all possible periods have been found in Brit-ain's peat bogs.
At Lindow Moss, four sets of human remains have been found, probably those of two males. This is a
detailed study of the second body, found in 1987. It includes new research on the first body (Lindow
Man), a gazeteer of British bog bodies, and recent research from Ireland and the Netherlands.
Despite its fragmentary state, the second body has produced some remarkable evidence - not least the
presence of an extra thumb on the right hand, and one wonders whether it was this deformity that
singled him out for his fate. Study of his gut contents showed a last meal of cereals and hazelnuts, but
none of the mistletoe found in Lindow Man's guts that prompted so much speculation about his
Druidic connections.
The problems of radiocarbon dating now seem largely resolved. Despite their `Celtic' affinities, both
bodies appear to be of early Roman date. This is not so surprising, given their location in a culturally
backward part of the North West. Their savage death continues to fascinate. Lindow Man was
bludgeoned, garroted and bled, while the second Lindow body was probably beheaded. The book
presents two contrasting explanations of the pathological evidence: the traditional one of ritual
slaughter by the Celtic `triple death' or decapitation, and the rather less convincing one of post-
mortem injury and bungled attempts at recovery.
One of the most exciting theories is that Lindow Man's body may have been decorated with blue-
green mineral-based paint. This may be evidence of vitrum - the tribal war-paint mentioned by
Caesar and usually interpreted as the vegetable dye, woad.
The book ends with a review of Lindow Man in modern society, including a wonderful list of
misnomers compiled at the British Museum enquiry desk - Sludge Man, Plastic Pete, Body in the Bag,
Man in the Toilet, and Stuffed Pygmy.
Adrian Tindall is the Principal Conservation Officer (Archaeology) at Cheshire County Council
A FIELD GUIDE TO JOINT DISEASE IN ARCHAEOLOGY
How I wish I could have had this book when I was starting out in palaeopathology! Rogers and
Waldron have succeeded in cutting the complexities of diagnosis down to size. The language is clear,
avoiding unnecessary clinical jargon, and defining terminology in a way that makes perfect sense and
can be remembered easily. The illustrations are clear and unambiguous, so that it is easy to compare
them with the real bone in front of one, on site or in the laboratory. I particularly like the check-lists
of diagnostic features at the end of every section.
The interweaving of clinical, radiological and skeletal information helps to produce a holistic picture
of a diseased joint, and the authors' suggestions as to how the burgeoning technology of DNA analysis
might be used in the future offer a vision of an increasingly complete understanding of joint disease in
the present as well as the past.
Most human bone specialists have at some time been tantalised by two temptations - to over-diagnose
the rare rather than the commonplace diseases that actually tell us more useful things about individuals
and communities in the past; and to over-interpret skeletal data so that we end up reconstructing the
life and death of a long-dead person in a way that verges on historical fiction. The warnings and
examples in this book, and the straight-forward discussion of epidemiological issues, should keep our
feet on the straight and narrow path of correct diagnosis and restrained interpretation.
Dr Jennifer Wakely is an Osteoarchaeologist at the University of Leicester
AN ENGLISH EMPIRE
In this book, the second volume in an intended trilogy (see review of the first in BA,
June 1995), Nick Higham has written political history on
an epic scale, based on much of the archaeological work that has recently started to make sense of the
early post-Roman centuries. Doubtless specialists will find many points to dispute, but to the outsider
his story is credible and stimulating.
Higham's main theme is that of Bede as a `providential historian' presenting the English, especially
the kings of Northumbria, as God's chosen people and the legitimate successors of the Romans as
rulers of the rebellious and heretical British who still formed the bulk of the population. The second,
linked, theme is imperium or `overkingship' of one regional ruler over another, and it was the
Northumbrian Oswald who brought God's will over the English to fruition by uniting the old Roman
province under his rule.
The long struggle for supremacy between the Christian Northumbrians and the still-pagan Mercians
and their British allies was, of course, a central concern for Bede. Higham departs from the current
consensus by regarding the Tribal Hidage - a tribute list of midland and southern peoples - as a
Northumbrian document, attesting the overkingship established by Edwin over these peoples in the
620s.
Britain's Roman past may well have been more than a source of legitimacy for its new rulers. Higham
argues that it also shaped their territories, with English tribes succeeding Romano-British
civitates, and English kingdoms the Roman provinces into which the island had been divided.
This is a book aimed at the dedicated student of Anglo-Saxon England. Its 250 pages are densely
written - and sometimes repetitive - with a minimum of illustrations, and it assumes a knowledge of
the basic framework of `kings and battles'. It is often difficult for the non-specialist to separate
restatements of current consensus from Higham's own views, and the manner of referencing is hardly
convenient. The book also has a rambling feel - hardly surprising as three of the six chapters were
originally intended for separate publication.
Dr Peter Carrington is the Senior Archaeologist with Chester Archaeology
STUDIES IN CRIME
What is forensic archaeology? It involves the recovery of human remains which date from within
living memory, many of which will be positively identified with the cause of death established; and
the results of the work will be presented to a court of law. The authors' credentials for writing an
introduction to the subject are impeccable. Hunter and Roberts are based at Bradford University, the
first university to offer a course in the subject, and they have carried out several investigations for the
police.
Forensic archaeology is a very specialised area and the majority of archaeologists will spend their
working lives without coming into direct contact with it. The key message of the book is that remains
that fall within its field are normally in fact recovered by police personnel, who have no experience of
the specialism; while archaeologists, many of whom have excavated hundreds of graves, are rarely
called in. This raises concern that valuable osteological and stratigraphic information will be lost; not
to mention the possibility that an ancient skeleton might become the centre of a murder enquiry.
The book reads as individual contributions by experts rather than as a coherent whole. Several chapters
provide a valuable introduction to the study of human skeletal material, but the book would have
benefited from a detailed report on a scene of crime investigation involving an archaeological input.
This would have helped archaeologists approaching a forensic case for the first time, and would have
emphasised to police readers the value of an archaeological presence. Indeed, this book will only be a
success if it reaches the hands of the police.
Trevor Anderson is the Osteoarchaeologist at Canterbury Archaeological Trust
Return to the British Archaeology homepage
© Council for British Archaeology, 1996
Plastic Pete and the Lindow Men
by Adrian Tindall
RC Turner and RG Scaife
British Museum, UKP25.00
ISBN 0-7141-2305-6 hb
Aching joints in long-dead bones
by Jennifer Wakely
Juliet Rogers and Tony Waldron
John Wiley, UKP29.95
ISBN 0-471-95506-X pb
Bede and those cussed natives again
by Peter Carrington
NJ Higham
Manchester UP, UKP45.00
ISBN 0-7190-4423-5 hb
Archaeology meets the police force
by Trevor Anderson
J Hunter, C Roberts, A Martin
Batsford, UKP25.00
ISBN 0-7134-7901-9 pb