Tollund Man

{{Infobox person

| name = Tollund Man

| image = Moorleiche von Tollund Jütland um 100 n Chr hingerichtet.jpg

| image_size = 150px

| alt =

| caption = The Tollund Man's preserved head

| birth_name =

| birth_date = {{c.}} 445–420 BC

| birth_place =

| death_date = {{c.}} 405–384 BC (aged ~40)

| death_place = present-day Tollund, Denmark

| death_cause = Hanging (presumably ritual sacrifice)

| body_discovered = {{start date and age|1950|05|08}}
Silkeborg, Denmark
{{Coord|56|9|52|N|9|23|34|E|region:DK-82_type:event|display=title,inline}}

| other_names =

| known_for =

| height = 161cm

}}

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.{{Cite web |last=Lewis |first=Susan K. |year=2006 |title=Tollund Man |url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/bog/tollund.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201118093624/https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/bog/tollund.html |archive-date=18 November 2020 |access-date=22 September 2007 |publisher=Public Broadcasting System – NOVA}} He was found in 1950, preserved as a bog body near Silkeborg on the Jutland peninsula in Denmark.{{cite book |last=Glob |first=P. |author-link=Peter Glob |title=The Bog People: Iron-Age Man Preserved |publisher=New York Review of Books |year=2004 |isbn=978-1-59017-090-8 |location=New York |pages=304}} The man's physical features were so well preserved that he was mistaken for a recent murder victim. Twelve years before his discovery, another bog body, Elling Woman, was found in the same bog.[http://www.archaeology.org/online/features/bog/violence1.html "Violence in the Bogs"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121118223713/http://www.archaeology.org/online/features/bog/violence1.html |date=18 November 2012 }}, Archaeological Institute of America

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.[https://www.museumsilkeborg.dk/why-did-tollund-man-have-to-die Why did Tollund Man have to die?], [https://www.museumsilkeborg.dk/ Museum Silkeborg]

Discovery

File:Tollundmanden DO-10895 original.jpg

On 8 May 1950, peat cutters Viggo and Emil Hojgaard discovered a corpse in the peat layer of the Bjældskovdal peat bog, {{cvt|12|km|1}} west of Silkeborg, Denmark,{{Cite web |url=http://www.tollundman.dk/et-lig-dukker-op.asp |title=A Body Appears |work=The Tollund Man – A Face from Prehistoric Denmark |access-date=22 September 2007 |publisher=Silkeborg Public Library |year=2004 |author1=Silkeborg Public Library |author2=Silkeborg Museum |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131209034959/http://tollundman.dk/et-lig-dukker-op.asp |archive-date=9 December 2013 |url-status=dead}} which was so well preserved that they at first believed they had discovered a recent murder victim.

The Tollund Man lay {{cvt|60|m}} away from firm ground, buried under {{cvt|2.3|m}} of peat, his body arranged in a fetal position.{{cite web |url=http://www.museumsilkeborg.dk/the-discovery-of-tollund-man |title=The discovery of Tollund Man |publisher=Museum Silkeborg |access-date=16 February 2021 |archive-date=28 November 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201128162723/http://www.museumsilkeborg.dk/the-discovery-of-tollund-man |url-status=live }} 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. 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 ({{cvt|1|mm|disp=sqbr}} 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.{{Cite web |url=http://www.tollundman.dk/haar.asp |title=The Tollund Man: Hair and beard |access-date=10 October 2009 |publisher=Silkeborg Public Library |year=2004 |author1=Silkeborg Public Library |author2=Silkeborg Museum |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120501002848/http://www.tollundman.dk/haar.asp |archive-date=1 May 2012 |url-status=dead}} 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 some fish.{{Cite journal |last1=Nielsen |first1=Nina H. |last2=Henriksen |first2=Peter Steen |last3=Mortensen |first3=Morten Fischer |last4=Enevold |first4=Renée |last5=Mortensen |first5=Martin N. |last6=Scavenius |first6=Carsten |last7=Enghild |first7=Jan J. |name-list-style=and |date=2021 |title=The last meal of Tollund Man: new analyses of his gut content |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/antiquity/article/abs/last-meal-of-tollund-man-new-analyses-of-his-gut-content/E79FB52BAEF8B59BE2280F182C76DEBF |journal=Antiquity |language=en |volume=95 |issue=383 |pages=1195–1212 |doi=10.15184/aqy.2021.98 |issn=0003-598X |s2cid=238030730|url-access=subscription }}

Scientific examination and conclusions

File:Tollundmannen.jpg

Radiocarbon dating of Tollund Man indicated that he died circa 405–380 BC.{{cite journal |title=Dating bog bodies by means of 14C-AMS |journal=Journal of Archaeological Science |date=1 April 2004 |volume=31 |issue=4 |pages=471–491 |doi=10.1016/j.jas.2003.09.012 |citeseerx=10.1.1.520.411 |last1=Van Der Plicht |first1=J. |last2=Van Der Sanden |first2=W.A.B |last3=Aerts |first3=A.T |last4=Streurman |first4=H.J|bibcode=2004JArSc..31..471V }} 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.Reece, Urry, Cain, Wasserman, Minorsky, Jackson. "L'importance écologique et économique des Bryophytes". Campbell Biologie 4th Edition (2012): p. 705, 17 October 2014. 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 {{convert|20|mi|-1|disp=flip}} in his last six months.{{cite news |last=Levine |first=Joshua |title=Europe's Famed Bog Bodies Are Starting to Reveal Their Secrets |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/europe-bog-bodies-reveal-secrets-180962770/ |work=Smithsonian Magazine |date=May 2017 |access-date=22 April 2021 |archive-date=22 April 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210422125538/https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/europe-bog-bodies-reveal-secrets-180962770/ |url-status=live}}

Examinations and X-rays showed that the man's head was undamaged, and his heart, lungs and liver were well preserved. The Silkeborg Museum estimated his age as approximately 40 years and height at {{cvt|1.61|m}}, 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 by hanging rather than strangulation.Silkeborg Museum, [http://www.tollundman.dk/udseende.asp The Tollund Man's Appearance] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719132454/http://www.tollundman.dk/udseende.asp |date=2011-07-19}}, Silkeborg Museum and Amtscentret for Undervisning, Silkeborg Public Library, 2004 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.Silkeborg Museum, [http://www.tollundman.dk/scanning.asp Latest Research] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719132800/http://www.tollundman.dk/scanning.asp |date=2011-07-19}}, Silkeborg Museum and Amtscentret for Undervisning, Silkeborg Public Library, 2004 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.Silkeborg Museum, [http://www.tollundman.dk/haengning.asp Was the Tollund Man Hanged?] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719132658/http://www.tollundman.dk/haengning.asp |date=2011-07-19}}, Silkeborg Museum and Amtscentret for Undervisning, Silkeborg Public Library (SPL), 2004

The stomach and intestines were examined and tests were carried out on their contents. Scientists identified the man's last meal as porridge or gruel made from grains and seeds, both cultivated and wild. Approximately 40 kinds of seeds were identified, but the porridge was primarily composed of four types: barley, flax, false flax (Camelina sativa) and knotgrass.Silkeborg Museum, [http://www.tollundman.dk/sidste-maaltid.asp The Last Meal] {{Webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170430002753/http://www.tollundman.dk/sidste-maaltid.asp |date=2017-04-30}}, Silkeborg Museum and Amtscentret for Undervisning, Silkeborg Public Library, 2004 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. Because neither meat nor fresh fruit was found in the last meal, it is suggested that the meal was eaten in winter or early spring when these items were not available.

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.{{Cite web |url=http://www.tollundman.dk/fingeraftryk.asp |title=Finger-Prints |work=The Tollund Man – A Face from Prehistoric Denmark |access-date=22 September 2007 |publisher=Silkeborg Public Library |year=2004 |author1=Silkeborg Public Library |author2=Silkeborg Museum |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070923123956/http://www.tollundman.dk/fingeraftryk.asp |archive-date=23 September 2007 |url-status=dead}}

Cause of death

The reason for Tollund Man's death has not been definitively determined.{{cite journal | url=https://eds.p.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=7&sid=b60292f4-35f5-4987-8f44-515bea0a53c0%40redis | title=Humans as Ritual Victims in the Later Prehistory of Western Europe | first=Miranda | last=Green | journal=Oxford Journal of Archaeology | year=1998 | volume=17 | issue=2 | pp=162-189}} 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.Hart, Edward, dir. [https://www.kpbs.org/news/arts-culture/2014/01/28/nova-ghosts-murdered-kings Ghosts of Murdered Kings]. NOVA. Prod. Edward Hart and Dan McCabe, PBS, 29 January 2014 However, other scholars believe that his death may have been an execution, in part because Germanic tribes buried traitors under piles of sticks.[https://www.museumsilkeborg.dk/why-did-tollund-man-have-to-die Why did Tollund Man have to die?], [https://www.museumsilkeborg.dk/ Museum Silkeborg]

Display

File:Tollundmanden i Silkeborgmuseet.JPG]]

The body is displayed at the Silkeborg 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 a replica of the body.{{Cite web |url=http://www.tollundman.dk/konservering.asp |title=Preservation of the Tollund Man |work=The Tollund Man – A Face from Prehistoric Denmark |access-date=22 September 2007 |publisher=Silkeborg Public Library |year=2004 |author1=Silkeborg Public Library |author2=Silkeborg Museum |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304124758/http://www.tollundman.dk/konservering.asp |archive-date=4 March 2016 |url-status=dead}}

Other bodies

In Denmark, more than 500 bog bodies and skeletal remains dating to the Iron Age have been recovered.{{cite journal |last=Dell'Amore |first=Christine |date=July 18, 2014 |title=Who Were the Ancient Bog Mummies? Surprising New Clues |journal=National Geographic |url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/07/140718-bog-bodies-denmark-archaeology-science-iron-age/ |access-date=March 13, 2017 |archive-date=November 18, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201118093629/https://www.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/7/140718-bog-bodies-denmark-archaeology-science-iron-age/ |url-status=dead}} Specimens from Jutland include the relatively well-preserved Borremose bodies, Huldremose Woman, 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.

In popular culture

Nobel Prize-winning Irish poet Seamus Heaney wrote a series of poems inspired by P. V. Glob's study of the mummified Iron Age bodies found in Jutland's peat bogs, finding contemporary political relevance in the relics of the ritualistic killings.{{cite book |last=O'Donoghue |first=Bernard |title=The Cambridge Companion to Seamus Heaney |year=2009 |publisher=Cambridge University Press |isbn=978-0-521-83882-5 |pages=194–196}} 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". Heaney wrote an excerpt from the poem in the Tollund Man exhibit's guest book in 1973.{{cite web |url=http://www.tollundman.dk/heaney.asp |title=The Nobel Prize Winner's Poem about the Tollund Man |year=2004 |work=The Tollund Man |publisher=Silkeborg Public Library |access-date=20 November 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160220082107/http://www.tollundman.dk/heaney.asp |archive-date=20 February 2016 |url-status=dead}}

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.{{cite news |last=Boxer |first=Sarah |title=A New Literary Hero: The Limp, Silent Type |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1991/06/02/books/a-new-literary-hero-the-limp-silent-type.html |work=The New York Times |date=2 June 1991 |access-date=20 February 2017 |archive-date=5 October 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171005061437/http://www.nytimes.com/1991/06/02/books/a-new-literary-hero-the-limp-silent-type.html |url-status=live }}{{cite book |last=Sanders |first=Karin |title=Bodies in the Bog and the Archaeological Imagination |date=2009 |publisher=University of Chicago Press |isbn=978-0-226-73404-0 |pages=254–55}}

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 BonesWilliams, Scott. "Mummy in the Maze". Bones. Dir. Marita Grabiak. Fox. 30 Oct. 2007. Web. 15 Nov. 2016. and was also mentioned in the 2016 film Sacrifice in which a bog body was found in the Shetland Islands.{{cite web | url=https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/sacrifice-2016/ | website=slantmagazine.com | publisher=Slant Magazine | first=Clayton | last=Dillard | title=Review: Sacrifice | date=April 25, 2016}}

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.{{cite web | url=https://www.npr.org/2018/08/07/636061509/bonding-over-bog-bodies-in-meet-me-at-the-museum | title=Bonding Over Bog Bodies In 'Meet Me At The Museum' | first=Heller | last=McAlpin | website=npr.org | publisher=National Public Radio | date=August 7, 2018}}

Citations

General sources

{{Cite book |last=Glob |first=P. V. |author-link=Peter Glob |date=2004 |orig-year=1969 |title=The Bog People: Iron-Age Man Preserved |url=https://archive.org/details/bogpeopleironage0000glob/page/n3/mode/2up |url-access=subscription |translator=Rupert Bruce-Mitford |location=New York |publisher=New York Review Books |isbn=1-59017-090-3}} Translated from the Danish original: Mosefolket: Jernalderens Mennesker bevaret i 2000 År, 1965. The Wikipedia article: The Bog People.

External links

[http://www.tollundman.dk/ Tollund Man – A Face from Prehistoric Denmark]
[https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/bog/toll-flash.html Tollund Man at PBS]
{{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20000901085149/http://home6.inet.tele.dk/hjortspr/Tollundmand.htm |date=1 September 2000 |title=The Tollund Man }}
[http://www.ibiblio.org/ipa/poems/heaney/the_tollund_man.php The Tollund Man] and [http://books.guardian.co.uk/departments/poetry/story/0,,1460761,00.html The Tollund Man in Springtime] by Seamus Heaney
[https://web.archive.org/web/20150401172842/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2007/09/bog-bodies/bog-bodies-text National Geographic September 2007: "Tales From the Bog"]
[https://web.archive.org/web/20110424092611/http://www.mummytombs.com/mummylocator/featured/tollund.dinunno.jpg Image of the facial reconstruction to show what Tollund Man had looked when he was alive]