egtvedpigen: a bronze age babe

back in 1921, a farmer named Peter Platz was removing a burial mound (this one) on his property when he came across a very old oak casket. he had the sense to stop the removal and write a letter to the national museum in copenhagen. it was february and rather cold, so the museum had some trouble getting someone to go over and check it out. eventually, they did send someone and they discovered the body of a young girl within the casket. and peter realized it was so important that he put the mound back and even erected a memorial stone to her.

she had died at the age of about 18 in 1370 B.C. and is one of the best bronze age finds ever. tho' there wasn't much left of her actual body, her clothing was remarkably well-preserved. tho' this is a replica of her dress, not the real thing. there were some well-preserved birch bark items in the casket with her and disturbingly some burned bones from a 5-6 year old child as well.  there is a lot of speculation about what happened and whether it was some kind of ritual or cult sacrifice, but truth be told, we'll likely never know. i do like imagining her life, tho', especially since she was wearing such a cool outfit.

the real casket, what's left of the girl and the real clothing are in the national museum in copenhagen, but on the site where she was found near egtved (not far from where we live) is a little teeny tiny museum. it's surprisingly informative and features this wonderful replica of her clothing. a woven top in natural wool in brownish tones, belt with a large bronze decorative "shield" and quite a hot little mini skirt in a design i would seriously not mind wearing.

with the dress in a glass case and poor lighting in the building, my pictures aren't great, but i had to share, it's such a stylish and quite timeless design. if i could manage to knit or crochet or otherwise make things with yarn, i'd try to duplicate it. the top is woven, probably on a loom and is also so stylish. the skirt is one long piece that wraps around twice and has a woven waistband to which the "fringes" are attached - they're also bound together at the bottom. there was some evidence in the grave that she had had some kind of woven leggings on as well, but they are not preserved. but a 3300 year-old miniskirt. now that's what i call retro fashion.