Gunnister Man

The Gunnister It is a bog body from the 18th century, in a May 12, 1951 at Moor on the northern main island of the Scottish Shetland Islands has been found. The body of the corpse was largely gone, but its clothing was almost complete and in excellent condition. The remains of the find are kept in the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh . At the site of the find, a stone tablet erected by the Northmavine History Group commemorates the find.

Find

The Gunnister Man was found on May 12, 1851 by the two peat cutters James Bigland and James Johnson, in a moor near the road to Gunnister / Nibon, about 500 meters after the junction of the main Lerwick-Hillswick A970 . They reported their find to the police, who called in archaeologists for documentation and recovery.
Location: 60 ° 26 ′ 30.2 ″  N , 1 ° 24 ′ 17.7 ″  W Coordinates: 60 ° 26 ′ 30.2 ″  N , 1 ° 24 ′ 17.7 ″  W

Findings

The fully clothed corpse was found lying on his back with his head facing east-southeast in a shallow grave pit only 75 cm deep in the moor. At this point the moor was about 120 cm deep down to the rock. Except for a clump of dark brown hair , fragments of the skull , a few fingernails and toenails, and severely decomposed bone fragments in the sleeves and stockings, the corpse was completely gone. In contrast, the woolen clothing was extremely well preserved . At his feet was a stave made of Scots pine with a diameter of 17 cm at the mouth, 15 cm at the base and a height of 14 cm. Next to it were two flat wooden boards, the larger one with 171 × 95 mm made of oak , the smaller one with 150 × 37 mm made of pine . The up to 7.6 mm thick boards, whose function is unknown, have strongly rounded corners and two matching drill holes. An approximately 130 cm long stick lay diagonally over the left half of the body, which broke into three pieces during the rescue. In the coat pocket was a piece of a quill pen and a knitted purse with three coins of little value. There are a Dutch 6- Stüber from Nijmegen from 1690, a 2-Stüber from Overijssel from 1681 and a Swedish ⅙- Öre piece from 1683. In the pants was a container made from a cow horn, the large opening of which was carved with a cross and three The wooden lid fastened with dowels was closed. The tip of the horn is frayed or broken. Inside the jacket was a horn spoon rolled up in a cap. A knife handle was also found, the blade of which has completely worn off.

dress

During his lifetime the man wore warm woolen clothing, a jacket, over it a long coat in the shape of a Justaucorps , long knitted gloves, short trousers and a leg-length pair of knitted stockings. As shoes, he wore a pair of primitive waistbands ( opanks ) made of heavily worn leather. On his head he wore a woolen cap with a turned-up brim, a second was rolled up around the horn spoon in his jacket. The purse is now a dull brown color. Originally it consisted of natural brown wool with knitted white, gray and red patterns. It was in the pocket of his coat and contained Dutch and Swedish coins. The gloves were knitted to shape, the gauntlets are patterned and the backs of the hands were decorated with a decorative arrow pattern. Another piece of textile was found next to it, but its function could not be clearly clarified. The piece of fabric is also knitted and has three concentric, diamond-shaped openings. The now about 99 cm long Justaucorps consists of überwalktem woolen cloth in Gleichgratköperbindung of z / s twisted yarn with thread thicknesses of 0.6 to 0.9 mm in diameter and weave densities of 11-14 fibers in warp and 8.5 to 10 threads in the weft . The fabric of the coat was so worn that the overfilling was only visible on the inside. The fabric and all seams were carefully and neatly done. The coat was lined with pieces of fabric made from other woolen fabrics. The Justaucoprs have 20 wool buttons on the front and four on the cuffs . There are also two pockets on the front, each decorated with seven wool buttons. The original color of the coat, which has now been dyed brown by the moor acids, was presumably gray, since no pigments were detectable in the wool fibers other than the wool's own. The heavily worn item of clothing was patched in numerous places and adjusted with subsequently sewn-in strips of fabric, and the wearer also folded down the wide cuffs to increase the sleeve length. The 87 cm long jacket, worn underneath as a shirt, was originally made of undyed, white, specially selected wool and has a small stand-up collar. It consists of a fabric in a straight twill made of z / s twisted yarn with thread thicknesses from 0.5 to 0.8 mm and a fabric density of 13 threads in the warp and 9 threads in the weft. The fabric of the cloth is uneven and has numerous weaving defects, and the warp and weft threads are only spun unevenly . The weaving width of the cloth varies between 48 and 53 cm, which resulted in a 7 to 8 cm shift in the back seam of the gown. The neckline of the jacket extends over the waistline on the front and is closed by nine wool buttons and three on the sleeve cuffs made of the same fabric. This smock was also patched several times on the outside and inside with pieces of fabric made from at least two different fabrics. The patchwork was carried out by an untrained hand and regardless of the external appearance of the gown. On the other hand, holes on the elbows had been patched up by skilled hands with other pieces of fabric. The lower hem of the jacket consists of a worn cut edge that has not been missed. The trousers are made of s / s twisted yarn, with thread thicknesses of 0.9 mm in warp and weft and weave densities of 8.5 threads per centimeter in both thread systems. The pants were only closed with a button, in which residues of green pigments could be detected, but the pants originally had the natural gray color of the wool. Pants and coat were made from the same cloth. The feet of the knitted stockings were completely worn out and had to be patched up very poorly with shoe-shaped pieces of uniform twill. This fabric is similar in its uneven structure to that of the smock. The fabric patches have the same cut as the man's waist shoes. A single woven ribbon of wool 85 cm long and 2 cm wide on 46 warp threads was found in the man. The ribbon was woven from threads of different colors, presumably white and gray, the color structure of which is still clearly recognizable. The ends of the ribbon were hemmed . It is believed that this was used to fasten one of the stockings around the leg.

Dating

The dating to the period around 1690 and 1710 has so far been based on the coins and the costume classification of clothing.

Interpretation and meaning

The circumstances in which the man was found in a grave pit, the coins found and the grave goods speak relatively safely in favor of a regular burial of the deceased. No information can be given about the cause of death. Because of his warm clothing, such as gloves and hats, the time of death is assumed to be in the winter months. Its origin is unclear, the foreign coins could indicate that it was possibly in transit and perhaps a trader. The function of the individual, diamond-shaped decorated piece of fabric is unclear, it could have been an application on a piece of clothing made of vegetable fibers that has passed in the acidic moor environment. The specialty of the find are the knitwear, they are the earliest evidence of this technique on the Shetland Islands so far. However, it cannot be confirmed whether these were made in the Shetland Islands or outside of it. The complex of finds is of particular importance due to the fact that a fully preserved set of simple everyday clothing from the early 18th century is here. Heavy wear and tear and some patches show that this clothing has been worn for a long time. For the Shetland Museum, textile archaeologists Carol Christiansen, Martin Ciszuk and Lena Hammarlund made faithful reconstructions of the clothing. These reconstructions were artificially brought to the wearing condition of the original clothing, including wear and patches. These reconstructions are on display at the Shetland Museum in Lerwick .

literature

• Audrey S. Henshall, Stuart Maxwell: Clothing and other articles from a late 17th-century grave at Gunnister, Shetland . In: Society of Antiquaries of Scotland (ed.): Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 1951–1952 . No. 86 , ISSN  0081-1564 , p. 30-42 (English).
• National Museums Scotland (Ed.): Gunnister Man A live reconstructed . ( online [PDF; 4.9 MB ] Flyer for Gunniser Man, English).

Web links

• Gunnister Man on the Shetlopedia

Individual evidence

1. ↑ ^{a b c d e} Audrey S. Henshall, Stuart Maxwell: Clothing and other articles from a late 17th-century grave at Gunnister, Shetland . In: Society of Antiquaries of Scotland (ed.): Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 1951–1952 . No. 86 , ISSN  0081-1564 , p. 30-42 (English).
2. ↑ Audrey S. Henshall, Stuart Maxwell: Clothing and other articles from a late 17th-century grave at Gunnister, Shetland . In: Society of Antiquaries of Scotland (ed.): Proceedings of the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland 1951–1952 . No. 86 , ISSN  0081-1564 , p. 30 (English).
3. ^ ^{A b} Carol Christiansen: The Gunnister Man Project: researching and reconstructing a late 17th century garment ensemble. (PDF, 12 kB) May 10, 2011, accessed on February 3, 2013 (English, summary of a lecture at the NESAT XI conference). 
4. ↑ ^{a b} Martin Ciszuk , Lena Hammarlund : The Gunnister Man Project II: weaving, cutting, sewing and finishing . (Print proof, in press, English, talk at the NESAT XI 2010 conference).