Discovery of Luttra Woman

Date: May 20, 1943 • Location: Falköping, Sweden

The Luttra Woman (skull pictured), a bog body from the Early Neolithic period, was discovered near Luttra, Sweden.

The Luttra Woman is a skeletonised bog body discovered in a peat bog in Falbygden near Luttra, Sweden. The remains were found on 20 May 1943 by a peat cutter. The skull was well-preserved, but some bones of the skeleton, particularly many between the skull and the pelvis, were missing. Osteological assessment identified the remains as those of a young female. The presence of raspberry seeds in her stomach contents, together with an estimated age of early to mid-twenties at death, led to her being nicknamed Hallonflickan. Radiocarbon-dated to 3928–3651 BC, she was, as of 2015, the earliest known Neolithic individual from Western Sweden. In a study, her estimated height of 145 cm was deemed short for a Stone Age woman of the region.