The Girl of the Uchter Moor also known as Moora is the name given to the female Iron Age bog body[1] remains, discovered in 2000 in the marshland near Uchte, Germany. The remains include vertebrae, hair and skull pieces. The studies of the body began in 2005.[1] The radiocarbon dating performed at the University of Kiel showed that Moora had died between 764 and 515 BCE.[1] Despite common Iron Age burial practices,[1] the body was not cremated. All of the body parts are estimated to have been found except for one scapula.[2]
Before DNA analysis the body was initially believed to be that of a sixteen-year old girl Elke Kerll, who disappeared in 1969 after going to a dance club.[1][3]
Moora was determined to be between 17 and 19 years old at the time of her death.[1] She had slightly red hair and was left-handed.[3] It is thought that Moora experienced intense physical labour and likely repeatedly carried heavy loads, like water jugs, while roaming through the marshland.[1] According to Saring Dennis from the University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf, Moora sustained at least two partial skull fractures that gradually healed themselves.[3] Moora also suffered long periods of sickness associated with the hardships of long winters.[3] The bone growth lines showed that during her childhood and adolescence, Moora suffered from chronic malnutrition.[3] Moora was also diagnosed to have a benign tumor at the base of her skull, which led to the spine curvature and chronic inflammation in the leg bones.[3] However Moora's cause of death is unknown. It was only determined that Moora was naked at the time she was deposited into the bog.[1]