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| The '''Braak Bog Figures''' are two wooden figures discovered in 1947 in a peat bog in ], ], ]. | The '''Braak Bog Figures''' are two wooden figures discovered in 1947 in a peat bog in ], ], ]. The figures are ] in appearance and have been ] to the 2nd or 3rd century BCE. Belonging to a larger tradition of similar figures reaching from the ] to the ], the figures have resulted in a number of theories about their function and what they may represent. | ||
| ==Appearance and dating== | |||
| Carved from carefully selected naturally forked branches,<ref name="ALDHOUSE GREEN-59–60">Aldhouse Green (2004:59–60)</ref> the figures are ] and are {{convert|275|cm|in}} (male) and {{convert|230|cm|in}} (female) in height.<ref name="SIERKSMA-168">Sierksma (1960:168).</ref> They have sockets for arms (the appendages are missing) and pebbles may have been used for their eyes.<ref name="DAVIDSON-1988-17">Davidson (1988:17).</ref> The figures exhibit marked sexual dimorphism: in addition to the difference in height, the female has her hair in a topknot and the male has short hair with ],<ref name="ALDHOUSE GREEN-59–60"/> and the sexual organs are emphasized.<ref name="TODD-108">Todd (2009:108).</ref> The breasts of the female figure are |
Carved from carefully selected naturally forked branches,<ref name="ALDHOUSE GREEN-59–60">Aldhouse Green (2004:59–60)</ref> the figures are ] and are {{convert|275|cm|in}} (male) and {{convert|230|cm|in}} (female) in height.<ref name="SIERKSMA-168">Sierksma (1960:168).</ref> They have sockets for arms (the appendages are missing) and pebbles may have been used for their eyes.<ref name="DAVIDSON-1988-17">Davidson (1988:17).</ref> The figures exhibit marked sexual dimorphism: in addition to the difference in height, the female has her hair in a topknot and the male has short hair with ],<ref name="ALDHOUSE GREEN-59–60"/> and the sexual organs are emphasized.<ref name="TODD-108">Todd (2009:108).</ref> The breasts of the female figure are "set in separately" and the male figure's genital had been "struck off".<ref name="SIERKSMA-168"/> The noses are also differentiated, but both have open mouths as if screaming.<ref name="ALDHOUSE GREEN-59–60"/> | ||
| The Braak figures are ] to the 3rd to 2nd century BCE,<ref name="ALDHOUSE GREEN-59–60"/> and are among several anthropomorphic figures in a "variety of forms" unearthed from the ] and into the ]. The majority of these figures date to the ] and the ].<ref name="TODD-AND-DAVIDSON-1988">See Davidson (1988:15-19) & Todd (2009:108).</ref> Of these figures, ] refers to the Braak Bog Figures as the "most imposing" of the figures discovered.<ref name="TODD-108"/> | The Braak figures are ] to the 3rd to 2nd century BCE,<ref name="ALDHOUSE GREEN-59–60"/> and are among several anthropomorphic figures in a "variety of forms" unearthed from the ] and into the ]. The majority of these figures date to the ] and the ].<ref name="TODD-AND-DAVIDSON-1988">See Davidson (1988:15-19) & Todd (2009:108).</ref> Of these figures, ] refers to the Braak Bog Figures as the "most imposing" of the figures discovered.<ref name="TODD-108"/> | ||
| ==Interpretations== | |||
| ] (1960) comments that as the figures were found together in a peat bog, near a pile of stones containing fragments of pottery and evidence of fire, "together with the considerable dimension of the figures, and the combination of a male and a female figure, make it virtually certain that they represent deities of Northern Germanic tribes. These located the residence of their gods in peat bogs, and regarded the sacred union of a fertility god and a fertility goddess as prerequisite for the continued propagation of life in all its forms".<ref name="SIERKSMA-168"/> | ] (1960) comments that as the figures were found together in a peat bog, near a pile of stones containing fragments of pottery and evidence of fire, "together with the considerable dimension of the figures, and the combination of a male and a female figure, make it virtually certain that they represent deities of Northern Germanic tribes. These located the residence of their gods in peat bogs, and regarded the sacred union of a fertility god and a fertility goddess as prerequisite for the continued propagation of life in all its forms".<ref name="SIERKSMA-168"/> | ||
| ] (1975) comments that these figures may represent a "Lord and Lady" of the ], a group of ], and that "another memory of may survive in the tradition of the creation of ], the man and woman who founded the human race, created by the gods from trees on the seashore".<ref name="DAVIDSON-1975-89">Davidson (1975:88—89).</ref> | |||
| Malcolm Todd |
Malcolm Todd (2009) comments the Braak Bog Figures and other similar bog figures have a "significance difficult to determine but should be related to the supra-mundane and perhaps specifically to the presiding deities of fertility and war".<ref name="TODD-108"/> | ||
| ==See also== | ==See also== | ||
| * ], human bodies placed in peat bogs | * ], human bodies placed in peat bogs | ||
| * ], attested in Old Norse sources as a pile of |
* ], attested in Old Norse sources as a pile of stones in North Germanic religious practice | ||
| ==Notes== | ==Notes== | ||
Revision as of 15:56, 11 July 2013
The Braak Bog Figures are two wooden figures discovered in 1947 in a peat bog in Braak, Schleswig-Holstein, Northern Germany. The figures are human-like in appearance and have been carbon dated to the 2nd or 3rd century BCE. Belonging to a larger tradition of similar figures reaching from the Neolithic to the Middle Ages, the figures have resulted in a number of theories about their function and what they may represent.
Appearance and dating
Carved from carefully selected naturally forked branches, the figures are human-like and are 275 centimetres (108 in) (male) and 230 centimetres (91 in) (female) in height. They have sockets for arms (the appendages are missing) and pebbles may have been used for their eyes. The figures exhibit marked sexual dimorphism: in addition to the difference in height, the female has her hair in a topknot and the male has short hair with bangs, and the sexual organs are emphasized. The breasts of the female figure are "set in separately" and the male figure's genital had been "struck off". The noses are also differentiated, but both have open mouths as if screaming.
The Braak figures are carbon dated to the 3rd to 2nd century BCE, and are among several anthropomorphic figures in a "variety of forms" unearthed from the Neolithic and into the Middle Ages. The majority of these figures date to the Iron Age and the Roman period. Of these figures, Malcolm Todd refers to the Braak Bog Figures as the "most imposing" of the figures discovered.
Interpretations
Fokke Sierksma (1960) comments that as the figures were found together in a peat bog, near a pile of stones containing fragments of pottery and evidence of fire, "together with the considerable dimension of the figures, and the combination of a male and a female figure, make it virtually certain that they represent deities of Northern Germanic tribes. These located the residence of their gods in peat bogs, and regarded the sacred union of a fertility god and a fertility goddess as prerequisite for the continued propagation of life in all its forms".
Hilda Ellis Davidson (1975) comments that these figures may represent a "Lord and Lady" of the Vanir, a group of Norse gods, and that "another memory of may survive in the tradition of the creation of Ask and Embla, the man and woman who founded the human race, created by the gods from trees on the seashore".
Malcolm Todd (2009) comments the Braak Bog Figures and other similar bog figures have a "significance difficult to determine but should be related to the supra-mundane and perhaps specifically to the presiding deities of fertility and war".
See also
- Bog body, human bodies placed in peat bogs
- Hörgr, attested in Old Norse sources as a pile of stones in North Germanic religious practice
Notes
- ^ Aldhouse Green (2004:59–60)
- ^ Sierksma (1960:168).
- Davidson (1988:17).
- ^ Todd (2009:108).
- See Davidson (1988:15-19) & Todd (2009:108).
- Davidson (1975:88—89).
References
- Aldhouse Green, Miranda J. (2004). An Archaeology of Images: Iconology and Cosmology in Iron Age and Roman Europe. Routledge. ISBN 9780415252539
- Davidson, H. R. Ellis (1975). Scandinavian Mythology. Paul Hamlyn. ISBN 0-600-03637-5
- Davidson, Hilda Roderick Ellis (1988). Myths and Symbols in Pagan Europe: Early Scandinavian and Celtic Religions. Manchester University Press. ISBN 9780719025792
- Sierksma, Fokke (G. E. van Baaren-Pape Trans.) (1960). The Gods as We Shape Them. Routledge & Kegan Paul.
- Todd, Malcolm (2009). The Early Germans. 2nd edn. John Wiley & Sons. ISBN 9781405137560