Tollund Man, a man from the Iron Age in Denmark, was found naturally mummified in a bog in the 1950s. Peat bogs can preserve bodies due to their acidic, moist environment. Tollund Man was likely a sacrifice, found with a leather cord around his neck and ingested cereal porridge contaminated with ergot. His head is on display at the Silkebord Museum in Denmark.
Tollund Man was a man who lived during the Iron Age in Denmark. He is distinctive because he was buried in a bog around 400 BC and the conditions in the bog preserved his body. When two people were cutting peat in the 1950s, they discovered his naturally mummified body, which was so perfectly preserved that they thought they had stumbled upon a fresh corpse. They reported the find to the police, who were puzzled until they brought in an archaeologist; the archaeologist realized that, far from being a fresh body, Tollund Man represented an important historical discovery.
Peat bogs are unique environments. They form through the slow decay of moss, grasses, and other plant material that builds up in a bog that can’t drain properly. If the weather is cold enough, it slows down the decomposition of this plant material, favoring a moist, acidic environment that slowly begins to char the plants. The result is peat, which will turn into charcoal if left alone long enough. Tollund Man is one of many bodies that have been found in the swamps; if conditions are right, the swamp’s acidic water will mummify animals and people buried in the swamp. Peat has been used for centuries as a source of fuel, and some early European cultures associated peat bogs with mysticism, offering sacrifices to the peat and performing ceremonies near the peat bogs.
Man appears to have been one such sacrifice. He was found naked except for a cap and a leather belt, along with a leather cord wound around his neck; scientists believe he was hanged. He had been laid down to sleep and his mouth and lips had been closed by someone who had buried him. Far from being an abandoned body, Tollund Man appears to have been cared for and respected.
By the time he was found, his internal organs were investigated and the contents of his stomach and intestines revealed that his last meal was cereal porridge. The porridge contained grains contaminated with ergot, a fungus that causes hallucinations. Some archaeologists believe that man may have ingested this porridge deliberately, perhaps as part of the religious ceremony in which he was sacrificed.
Conservators have carefully preserved the Tollund Man’s head, which can be seen on display at the Silkebord Museum in Denmark. The body, unfortunately, has not been preserved, although parts of its bones and tissue remain. The museum built a wax replica of the body, so the display looks a lot like the man when it was originally found.
Tollund’s human studies suggest he was in his 40s and probably in good health if a little short. He was found in extremely good condition, even for a bog body, and has contributed to the body of knowledge about what life was like for Europeans during the Stone Age.
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