Page "Lindow Man" Paragraph 22

According to Brothwell, it is one of the most complex examples of " overkill " in a bog body, and possibly has ritual meaning as it was " extravagant " for a straightforward murder.

Archaeologists John Hodgson and Mark Brennand suggest that bog bodies may have been related to religious practice, although there is division in the academic community over this issue and in the case of Lindow Man, whether the killing was murder or ritualistic is still debated.

Anne Ross, an expert on Iron Age religion, proposed that the death was an example of human sacrifice and that the " triple death " ( throat cut, strangled, and hit on the head ) was an offering to several different gods.

The wide date range for Lindow Man's death ( 2 BC to 119 AD ) means he may have met his demise after the Romans conquered northern England in the 60s AD.

As the Romans outlawed human sacrifice, this opens up other possibilities ; this was emphasised by historian Ronald Hutton, who challenged the interpretation of sacrificial death.

Connolly suggests that as Lindow Man was found naked, he could have been the victim of a violent robbery.

Joy said, " The jury really is still out on these bodies, whether they were aristocrats, priests, criminals, outsiders, whether they went willingly to their deaths or whether they were executed – but Lindow was a very remote place in those days, an unlikely place for an ambush or a murder ".