Tollund Man

The Tollund Man (died 405–384 BC) is a naturally mummified corpse of a man who lived during the 5th century BC, during the period characterised in Scandinavia as the Pre-Roman Iron Age. He was found in 1950, preserved as a bog body near Silkeborg on the Jutland peninsula in Denmark. The man's physical features were so well preserved that he was mistaken for a recent murder victim.

The cause of death has been determined to be by hanging. There is insufficient evidence to determine if the reason for the killing was a ritual sacrifice or a punitive execution.

Identity and dating

Scientific analysis places the Tollund Man’s life in the 5th century BC, during the period known in Scandinavia as the Pre-Roman Iron Age. His estimated age at death is around 40 years.

His height is recorded as , though the shrinking effects of bog preservation mean he may have been slightly taller in life.

Isotopic analysis of his hair and femur indicates that he spent his final year within the region of present-day Denmark, moving at least in the last six months. These results together suggest he was a locally rooted individual who lived and died close to the bog where he was deposited.

Discovery

On 8 May 1950, peat cutters Viggo and Emil Hojgaard discovered a corpse in the peat layer of the Bjældskovdal peat bog, west of Silkeborg, Denmark, which was so well preserved that they at first believed they had discovered a recent murder victim.

The Tollund Man lay away from firm ground, buried under of peat, his body arranged in a fetal position.

He wore a pointed skin cap of sheepskin and wool, fastened under his chin by a hide thong, and a smooth hide belt around his waist. Additionally, a noose made of plaited animal hide was drawn tight around his neck and trailed down his back.

The preserved tender soft tissues of his body are the consequence of the acid in the peat, along with the lack of oxygen underneath the surface and the cold climate of the Nordic countries. The acid in the peat, needed for the preservation of a human body, is caused by a bryophyte named Sphagnum. Sphagnum fights against degradation due to resistant phenolic compounds contained in their cell walls. Due to the acidity of peat, bones are typically dissolved rather than preserved.

Scientists conducted an isotope analysis of the element strontium to measure the exact quantities to get an accurate idea of where he may have travelled before his death. They took samples from his femur 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 in Denmark, and that he may have moved at least in his last six months.

Examinations and X-rays showed that the man's head was undamaged, and his heart, lungs and liver were well preserved.

His hair was cropped so short as to be almost entirely hidden by his cap. There was short stubble ( 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.

Both feet and the right thumb, being well conserved by the peat, were also preserved in formalin for later examination. In 1976, the Danish police made a fingerprint analysis, making Tollund Man's thumbprint one of the oldest prints on record.

On the initial autopsy report in 1950, doctors concluded that Tollund Man died by hanging rather than strangulation. 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. Although the cervical 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.

Last meal

thumb|The remains of the Tollund Man shortly after his discovery in 1950The stomach and intestines were examined and tests were carried out on their contents in the 1950s and subsequently on stored samples with improved methodology.

The man's last meal was identified as porridge or gruel made from grains and seeds, both cultivated and wild. Fragments of charred seeds identified in the 2020s also support the idea of porridge. 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. However, other scholars believe that his death may have been an execution,

Preservation and display

thumb|The Tollund Man on display at [[Silkeborg Museum]]

Tollund Man is displayed at the Silkeborg Museum in Denmark, where it forms part of the museum's exhibition on bog finds.

When the body was first lifted from the peat in 1950, experts quickly realized that saving it would be difficult. Bog water keeps soft tissues stable, but once the body meets open air, the moisture begins to evaporate and the remains can shrink or fall apart.

At the time, conservation science was still developing new ways to protect waterlogged organic material. Earlier attempts had sometimes done more harm than good. In the nineteenth century, for example, conservators tried preserving bog finds by smoking them like meat. Although this slowed decay, it also caused heavy shrinkage and erased many fine details.

Other bodies

In Denmark, more than 500 bog bodies and skeletal remains dating to the Iron Age have been recovered. Specimens from Jutland include the relatively well-preserved Borremose bodies, Huldremose Woman, and Grauballe Man, on display at Moesgaard Museum near Aarhus, and the similarly-conserved Haraldskær Woman. Approximately 30 of these bog bodies are housed and/or displayed in Danish museums for continued research. Heaney's poem "The Tollund Man", published in his Wintering Out collection, compares the ritual sacrifice to those who died in the sectarian violence of "the Troubles".

British author Margaret Drabble, in her 1989 novel A Natural Curiosity, uses her characters' obsession with the Tollund Man to provide a satirical criticism of Margaret Thatcher's modern England.

Tollund Man is featured in several songs: "Tollund Man" (1995) by the American folk band The Mountain Goats and "Curse of the Tollund Man" (2004) by the English rock band The Darkness.

Tollund Man was mentioned in the episode "Mummy in the Maze" of the American television series Bones and was also mentioned in the 2016 film Sacrifice in which a bog body was found in the Shetland Islands.

He is the subject of the novel Meet Me at the Museum by Anne Youngson in which the main characters bond through a shared fascination with the Tollund Man.

Citations

General sources

Translated from the Danish original: Mosefolket: Jernalderens Mennesker bevaret i 2000 År, 1965. The Wikipedia article: The Bog People.

External links

Tollund Man – A Face from Prehistoric Denmark
Tollund Man at PBS
The Tollund Man and The Tollund Man in Springtime by Seamus Heaney
National Geographic September 2007: "Tales From the Bog"
Image of the facial reconstruction to show what Tollund Man had looked when he was alive