Windeby I

The body now known as Windeby I was found on 19 May 1952, when commercial peat cutters were working in the Domsland Moor on the Windeby estate near Schleswig in northern Schleswig-Holstein. One of the workers noticed what looked like a human femur in a freshly cut block of peat, and the team stopped work and shut down the machinery so they could investigate the find. Once it was clear that the remains were human, the workers searched the surrounding area for additional pieces and informed the archaeological museum in Schleswig. Museum staff then documented the find, removed the body in a single block of peat, and transferred it to the Schleswig-Holstein State Museum at Schloss Gottorf for careful excavation and conservation. Subsequent re-examination of the grave, the body, and the associated finds has since challenged this story, but it remains an important part of the reception history of the bog body. ==Condition==

When Windeby I was uncovered in the peat, the body lay on its right side in a shallow pit about across. The head faced west, and a sprang-woven wool band had slipped down over the eyes. Early writers interpreted this as a blindfold, but later analysis showed that it had originally been a hairband that shifted as the body shrank in the peat during preservation. The facial tissues were so well preserved that when the skull was opened during conservation, even the folds of the brain were still visible. The torso was in poorer condition. The chest and abdomen had collapsed, leaving ribs exposed where the skin and soft tissue had decayed. No internal organs survived. The right arm was drawn toward the face, the left angled toward the hip, and the legs were slightly flexed. Despite the damage, the posture indicated that the body had not been violently disturbed after death. The body had been placed on a bed of heather and covered with layers of cotton grass. A fur cloak still wrapped the upper body when the find was first examined, and fragments of a ceramic vessel and pieces of textile lay nearby. These details suggest that the individual had been intentionally placed in the bog with care, consistent with funerary practices observed at other northern European bog body sites.The bones were heavily decalcified, but radiographs showed Harris lines in the lower leg bones, indicating repeated childhood malnutrition. Parasitological examination found the hair to be unusually free of head lice for the Iron Age, although it is unclear whether this reflects the individual's life or the conditions of preservation. Taken together, the surviving hair, wool band, clothing remnants, plant layers, and grave goods indicate that Windeby I was deliberately placed in the bog. These details challenge early interpretations that imagined a punished adulteress or ritual victim and instead support an interpretation aligned with Iron Age burial traditions. ==Cause of death==

Interdisciplinary examination of the remains has produced no clear evidence for a violent death. The preserved soft tissues, including the neck region, do not show marks that would indicate strangulation, cutting, or binding, and none of the surviving bones preserve signs of trauma inflicted before death. Instead, clinical and anthropological assessment suggests that the boy suffered from a severe infection of the jaw. The inflammation would likely have caused significant pain, swelling, and systemic stress, and is regarded as the most probable cause of death. ==See also==