Tollund Man | |
|---|---|
 The Tollund Man's preserved head | |
| Born | c. 445–420 BC |
| Died | c. 405–384 BC (aged ~40) present-day Tollund, Denmark |
| Cause of death | Hanging (presumablyritual sacrifice) |
| Body discovered | May 8, 1950; 75 years ago (1950-05-08) Silkeborg,Denmark 56°9′52″N9°23′34″E / 56.16444°N 9.39278°E /56.16444; 9.39278 |
| Height | 161 cm (5 ft 3 in) |
TheTollund Man (died 405–384 BC) is a naturallymummified corpse of a man who lived during the 5th century BC, during the period characterised inScandinavia as thePre-Roman Iron Age.[1] He was found in 1950, preserved as abog body nearSilkeborg on theJutland peninsula inDenmark.[2] The man's physical features were so well preserved that he was mistaken for a recentmurder victim.[3] Twelve years before his discovery, another bog body,Elling Woman, was found in the same bog.[4]
The cause of death has been determined to be byhanging. There is insufficient evidence to determine if the reason for the killing was a ritual sacrifice or a punitive execution.[5][6]
On 8 May 1950,peat cutters Viggo and Emil Hojgaard discovered a corpse in the peat layer of the Bjældskovdal peat bog, 12 km (7.5 mi) west ofSilkeborg,Denmark,[3] which was so well preserved that they at first believed they had discovered a recent murder victim.
The Tollund Man lay 60 m (200 ft) away from firm ground, buried under 2.3 m (7 ft 7 in) of peat, his body arranged in afetal position.[7] He wore a pointed skin cap ofsheepskin andwool, fastened under his chin by ahide thong, and a smooth hide belt around his waist. Additionally, anoose made ofplaited animal hide was drawn tight around his neck and trailed down his back.[2] Other than these, the body was naked. His hair was cropped so short as to be almost entirely hidden by his cap. There was short stubble (1 mm [0.039 in] in length) on his chin and upper lip, suggesting that he was usually clean-shaven, but had not shaved on the day of his death.[8] The Tollund Man was approximately 40 years old. The Tollund Man's last meal consisted of a porridge with barley, flax, wild weed seeds, and fish.[9]
Radiocarbon dating of Tollund Man indicated that he died circa 405–380 BC.[10] The preserved tender soft tissues of his body are the consequence of theacid in the peat, along with the lack of oxygen underneath the surface and the coldclimate of the Nordic countries. The acid in the peat, needed for the preservation of a human body, is caused by abryophyte namedSphagnum.Sphagnum fights against degradation due to resistantphenolic compounds contained in their cell walls.[11] Due to the acidity of peat, bones are typically dissolved rather than preserved.
Scientists conducted anisotope analysis of the elementstrontium to measure the exact quantities to get an accurate idea of where he may have travelled before his death. They took samples from hisfemur and hair to compare. They were only able to measure up to a year because of his hair being short. The results contained only small differences in strontium isotope proportions, suggesting that he spent his final year inDenmark, and that he may have moved at least 30 kilometres (20 mi) in his last six months.[12]
Examinations and X-rays showed that the man's head was undamaged, and his heart, lungs and liver were well preserved. TheSilkeborg Museum estimated his age as approximately 40 years and height at 1.61 m (5 ft 3 in), a relatively short stature even for the time. It is likely that the body had shrunk in the bog.
On the initial autopsy report in 1950, doctors concluded that Tollund Man died byhanging rather thanstrangulation.[13] The rope left visible furrows in the skin beneath his chin and at the sides of his neck. There was no mark, however, at the back of the neck where the knot of the noose would have been located. After a re-examination in 2002, forensic scientists found further evidence to support these initial findings.[14] Although thecervical vertebrae were undamaged (these vertebrae are often damaged as a result of hanging), radiography showed that the tongue was distended—an indication of death by hanging.[15]
The stomach and intestines were examined and tests were carried out on their contents in the 1950s and subsequently on stored samples with improved methodology.[16][17] The man'slast meal was identified asporridge orgruel made from grains and seeds, both cultivated and wild. Fragments ofcharred seeds identified in the 2020s also support the idea of porridge.[17] Approximately 40 kinds of seeds were identified from seed fragments, but the porridge was primarily composed of three types: six-rowedbarley,pale persicaria andflax. Very small amounts of other species were identified includingcorn spurrey,false flax and marshland plants. Quantitative analysis in the 2020s indicated that barley formed the major component, accompanied by other grass species and around 1%knotweed. Eggs of the parasiteswhipworm,tapeworm andmawworm were also recorded as present in his digestive system.[16][17] Detailed chemical analysis of the samples recorded the presence ofsteroids and proteins from fish.[17]
From the stage of digestion it was concluded that the man had eaten 12 to 24 hours prior to his death. Porridges were common for people of this time.[16] Although fish has been identified in this last meal, there was no evidence of fresh fruit, so the meal may have been eaten in winter or early spring when this item was not available.[16] The presence of weed seeds, and sand, that would be cleaned from the barley at the final stage of harvesting, suggests that threshing waste was added into his food. This has been recorded in other bog bodies, so may have a ritual origin, or might be culinary for flavour.[17]
Both feet and the right thumb, being well conserved by the peat, were also preserved informalin for later examination. In 1976, the Danish police made afingerprint analysis, making Tollund Man's thumbprint one of the oldest prints on record.[18]
The reason for Tollund Man's death has not been definitively determined.[5] Some scholars believe the man was a ritual sacrifice because of the special treatment of the body: the arranged position of his body, the eyes and mouth being closed and the special meal that had been ingested.[5][19] However, other scholars believe that his death may have been an execution,[5] in part because Germanic tribes buried traitors under piles of sticks.[20]
The body is displayed at theSilkeborg Museum in Denmark, although only the head is original. Because conservation techniques for organic material were insufficiently advanced in the early 1950s for the entire body to be preserved, the forensic examiners suggested the head be severed and the rest of the body remain unpreserved. Subsequently, the body was desiccated and the tissue disappeared. In 1987, the Silkeborg Museum reconstructed the body using the skeletal remains as a base. As displayed today, the original head is attached to areplica of the body.[21]
In Denmark, more than 500 bog bodies and skeletal remains dating to theIron Age have been recovered.[22] Specimens from Jutland include the relatively well-preservedBorremose bodies,Huldremose Woman, andGrauballe Man, on display atMoesgaard Museum nearAarhus, and the similarly-conservedHaraldskær Woman. Approximately 30 of these bog bodies are housed and/or displayed in Danish museums for continued research.[22]
Nobel Prize-winning Irish poetSeamus Heaney wrote a series of poems inspired byP. V. Glob's study of the mummified Iron Age bodies found inJutland's peat bogs, finding contemporary political relevance in the relics of the ritualistic killings.[23] Heaney's poem "The Tollund Man", published in hisWintering Out collection, compares the ritual sacrifice to those who died in the sectarian violence of "the Troubles".[23] Heaney wrote an excerpt from the poem in the Tollund Man exhibit's guest book in 1973.[24]
British authorMargaret Drabble, in her 1989 novelA Natural Curiosity, uses her characters' obsession with the Tollund Man to provide a satirical criticism ofMargaret Thatcher's modern England.[25][26]
Tollund Man is featured in several songs: "Tollund Man" (1995) by the American folk bandThe Mountain Goats and "Curse of the Tollund Man" (2004) by the English rock bandThe Darkness.
Tollund Man was mentioned in the episode "Mummy in the Maze" of the American television seriesBones[27] and was also mentioned in the 2016 filmSacrifice in which a bog body was found in the Shetland Islands.[28]
He is the subject of the novelMeet Me at the Museum by Anne Youngson in which the main characters bond through a shared fascination with the Tollund Man.[29]
