TITLE:
The Reef Woman of the Maldives
AUTHORS:
Nils-Axel Mörner
KEYWORDS:
Woman Skeleton, Beachrock, Sea Level Changes, Garaidhoo-Lhosfushi Atolls, the Maldives, an 864 Year Old Murder
JOURNAL NAME:
Archaeological Discovery,
Vol.5 No.4,
October
30,
2017
ABSTRACT: A human skeleton was found embedded in beachrock in the Maldives. It was identified as the remains of a woman, died, killed or washed ashore at a former shore at about AD 1150. The shore was at the same elevation as today’s shore. Sea rose to about +60 cm, covering the skeleton with coral rubble. Sea fell again to its present position, cementing the shore deposits into beachrock including the skeleton. In sub-recent time, the beachrock was trimmed into a rock-cut platform at sea level of about +20 cm. In the 1970s, sea level fell to its present position, starting to erode a new rock-cut platform at about present high-tide level, by that exposing the old skeleton. The skeleton has come to be known as “the Reef Woman” of the Maldives or of Lhosfushi. The skeleton lacks its feet, suggesting that the woman was killed on the beach and the feet cut-off. The age of the bones is calAD 1135 ± 70. Therefore, it seems highly likely that the killing took place at the invasion and takeover of the Maldives by the Muslims in AD 1153. It seems we have cleared up an 864-year old murder.