prehistoric long hair! (Elling woman, braided bun)

**CryssieWillow** · October 21st, 2008, 09:31 AM

I just found this today and I thought some people here may like this a lot.
The Elling Woman is a Danish peat bog body from about 300 BC. And the cool thing is that she had really long hair and it was preserved, including hairstyle!

Reconstruction! woohoo!
There is a page here
It is about her and her clothes and hair. Here's about the hair.

The way her hair had been was examined closely. It was possible to tell that it was a pigtail and that the braiding had started at the top of the head and had gone down to the neck where it had been tied in a knot. The hair is red which is probably because it has been dyed by the bog water. However, it is darker than the Tollund Man's, and that is an indication that her hair must have been darker than his. Judging by the hairstyle her hair must have been approximately 1 metre long.
If you want to recreate the hairstyle you have to start by making a regular pigtail with the hair from the top of the head. At the hairline on the back of the neck you braid the rest of the hair into the braid which is then divided into seven parts. You braid these together two, two and three. At the end the pigtail is divided into two twisted pigtails.
On the day the woman was hanged, the pigtail had been tied into a knot at the back of her kneck - just like in the photo. If the pigtail was not tied into a knot, it could hang loose down her back and it would have been approximately 90 centimetres long.

Watch it, big picture of peatbog body head of hair. You are warned

This is all I can find for now about it. They are not very detailed about the what's and hows, unfortunally.
And cursed, my hair is too short for this one.
Who wants to try making this?

**gallows_gallery** · October 21st, 2008, 09:32 AM

WOWWWWWWWWW

Freaking awesome! Glimpses back in time amaze me

**lawyermom** · October 21st, 2008, 09:34 AM

ditto.
Just awesome, in the true sense of the word!

**CryssieWillow** · October 21st, 2008, 09:50 AM

Flippin awesome, huh!

There is also a video on the website. It is spoken in danish but it does spend quite some time on her hair. But alas, all I could understand was that Elling woman was about 25.

And ooh! *bounce*
I just made a discovery. I did not notice it before, but she has used the top braid that comes down from the crown in the knot. I just tried it and it even holds in my tapering waistlength hair.
It makes total sense. If you don't french braid everything you can tie it around that braid and the result is really secure.

**NiAosSi** · October 21st, 2008, 09:56 AM

So cool. I like that braid too. Thanks for sharing!

**Finoriel** · October 21st, 2008, 09:59 AM

Wow that´s interesting.
I´m just not sure how the strands are supposed to stay separated from each other when you braid 2-3-2 in the way they suggest... most likely every strand twisted in itself. Tricky. As well as the two "pigtails", how shall they stay separated without unravelling the whole braid?

For me it looks like the hairstyle did not survive all that time like it was originally made. I guess the hanging tail originally was braided too. Possibly into a rope braid, the tied off part before the two pigtails make me think that, and also looped up into the bun. The outer coil unwrapped itself during the centuries and the inner one we can still see.
I just have to try that!

**Stevy** · October 21st, 2008, 10:03 AM

Oh, that is really cool! Thank you! (Also, Finoriel, I think you're right - looks like a rope braid to me, too)

**ktani** · October 21st, 2008, 10:06 AM

More about the customs of the times and why they think both were sacrificed rather than hanged as criminals.
http://www.tollundman.dk/haengning.asp

http://www.tollundman.dk/doeden.asp

**CryssieWillow** · October 21st, 2008, 10:09 AM

Originally Posted by Finoriel

Wow that´s interesting.
I´m just not sure how the strands are supposed to stay separated from each other when you braid 2-3-2 in the way they suggest... most likely every strand twisted in itself. Tricky. As well as the two "pigtails", how shall they stay separated without unravelling the whole braid?

For me it looks like the hairstyle did not survive all that time like it was originally made. I guess the hanging tail originally was braided too. Possibly into a rope braid, the tied off part before the two pigtails make me think that, and also looped up into the bun. The outer coil unwrapped itself during the centuries and the inner one we can still see.
I just have to try that!

I think you may be right
I have been pouring over the video as it gives some nice close ups in a less harsh light then the big picture.
Those 2 pigtails at the ends is actually a single rope-braid as far as I can tell. Those 7 braided strands puzzle me too, but I think that they are actually ropebraids as well.
There is also something going on where the braid is tied of.