Motherly picture: a woman died during childbirth around 4000 BC

This is the picture of a young woman from Vedbaek, Denmark, who was buried with her newborn son. her son had been placed on a swan's wing, 4000 BC.

Vedbaek 'The burial on swan wings' Tomb 8 is the most famous of the burials, it contains a young woman, who may have died during childbirth, and a premature baby.

The symbolism of the baby in the swan wing has been much debated with suggestions including the purity and ability of a water bird to transcend water, land, and air.

Certainly, both bodies were cared for in death suggesting the belief that the spirit remained with the body. The disordered state of the mother's ribs suggests that she may have been resting on an organic "pillow"