History Is According To Those That Write It
My children grew up hearing me say the words that make up the title of this week’s blog. “History is according to those that write it.” I started saying it somewhere around the late 1990’s. I don’t ever remember reading that phrase anywhere, although it’s possible that I did. But I think it was more that in my own personal study of history I realized that what is recorded, what we consider “history”, is really based on what someone wrote. Even if it’s just the plain facts, with no emotional investment, it’s still the facts according to the one person that wrote it down. Writers are the recorders of history.
I was reminded of my thoughts on this, how history is perceived according to those that write it, just last week while reading my newly arrived copy of “Archaeology Magazine”. Inside was a very fascinating article on The Bog People. These are the bodies of deceased individuals that have been found submerged in the bogs of Northern Europe and the UK. Some of these people died thousands of years ago, some more recently, well at least recent in historical terms, they died 400 years ago. Bogs, you see, have a unique set of chemical things going on and because of that the bodies, in most cases, as well as clothing and other artifacts are preserved in an exceptional way. Such it was with the body pictured above, Windeby Girl. The photo I’ve attached is an artist’s rendition, you can find actual pictures online of what the body really looks like, if you want to go look. But for me, out of respect to the deceased person, and to those that might be bothered by photos like that, I chose to go with the drawing instead.
Windeby Girl’s body was found in 1952 in a small town in Northern Germany called, conveniently, Windeby. Local workers, harvesting peat out of a bog, found the body and alerted local authorities. It was quickly determined that this wasn’t a recent crime and so the archaeologists were called in. They declared that the body was that of a young girl because she was slight in stature and had delicate features. Her head appeared to have been shorn and there was some kind of blindfold covering her eyes. The research efforts done by the archaeologists included referring to early historical writings done by the Roman historian Tacitus. In the first century AD Tacitus recorded descriptions of the Germanic tribes that populated Northern Europe. Tacitus was a writer, he recorded his observations. His writings became history that other researchers then referred to. History thus became according to Tacitus, the person that wrote it.
Tacitus wrote that these Germanic tribes often executed criminals and transgressors and disposed of their bodies in the bogs. The archaeologist in 1952 formed a theory based on Tacitus’ writings. They decided that Windeby Girl was an adulteress. To punish her, the members of her community, had shaved her head, blindfolded her and drowned her in the bog. They wrote this theory down and it became historical fact. A few years later another body was found in the bog nearby, it was that of a male, obviously the illicit lover of Windeby Girl! This just proved the adultery theory of the archaeologist and it was now all cemented into history. It was written down and it became history.
This history was accurate and accepted for over 50 years. Then in the mid 2000’s, with DNA testing at their disposal, researchers from North Dakota State University tested Windeby Girl and they found out that the body wasn’t that of a woman at all! The body was actually that of a male, a very malnourished male, and that he more then likely died of natural causes. The blindfold over the eyes wasn’t a blindfold at all, according to the new researchers. It was simply some kind of headdress that had slipped down over the young man’s eyes as his head shrunk after his death. Even the shorn head theory was replaced with a new theory that maybe his hair had fallen out because of his physical condition at the time of death, or possibly lost in the bog over the centuries, or maybe even damaged during excavation. Then to totally destroy the adultery history of this body created in 1952, radio carbon dating was done on the other male body thought to be the illicit lover of Windeby Girl. It was learned that he had actually lived 300 years before! So the bodies were in no way connected to each other at all. Windeby Girl is now called Windeby 1, given that she’s actually a guy. And the former lover is now known as Windeby 2.
Was the Roman Tacitus wrong when he wrote down what he knew of the Germanic Tribes in the first century AD? Not at all. He wrote down what he knew and because it was written it became history. Were the archaeologists in 1952 wrong when they determined that two star crossed lovers were put to death for not following the community’s standards? Not at all. They wrote down what they knew, based on their research and knowledge at the time, and because it was written it became history. Are the researchers from North Dakota State University right or wrong in their statements of the two male bodies found in the bog that lived 300 years apart? Not at all. Even if later evidence shows a different theory. The NDSU researchers have written down their findings and it has become history, for now.
Because, after all….history is according to those that write it. So what are you writing?