He is one of scores of bog bodies that have been unearthed in wetlands across Britain and northern Europe. A 30- to 40-year-old man at the time of his death, Tollund Man was
hanged between 405 and 380 B.C.E.
, per Laura Geggel of Live Science. (The leather noose is still wrapped around his neck.)
When did Tollund Man Die date?
C
14
radiocarbon dating of Tollund Man indicated that he died in
about 375–210 BC
.
Why did Tollund Man get killed?
Tollund man died because
he was murdered by being hanged
. He was buried with a rope around his neck. This shows that it was a violent act and not an accident. It is most likely that Tollund man was killed by hanging.
Where is Tollund Man now?
Tollund Man’s body was reconstructed for the exhibit which now resides at
the Silkeborg Museum in Denmark
. The detail evident in his face is remarkable. Stubble on his chin, eyelashes, and the wrinkles in his skin are all exceptionally well preserved.
Was the Tollund Man murdered or sacrificed?
The fact that there were remains to unearth at all suggested that, despite the noose, this
man
was not technically
murdered
or hanged as a criminal. If he had been, he would have been cremated. Rather, he was probably ritually hanged as a spiritual
sacrifice
. Some parts of the
man’s
body did not fare as well as others.
What was Tollund Man’s last meal?
But Tollund Man’s status as a human sacrifice is also built on the presence of food in his stomach, indicating a ritual last meal. In the 1950s, analysis concluded that the man, before his death, had eaten a meal of
barley porridge
.
How old is the Tollund Man’s body?
Over the past few centuries, men harvesting peat in European bogs have discovered the preserved remains of hundreds of human corpses called “bog bodies”. Some of them are as old as 10,000 years.
Was the Tollund Man healthy?
A series of post-excavation examinations indicate that the Tollund Man was forty to fifty years old and
in good health except for the occurrence of whipworms
. He had eaten a purely vegetarian meal twelve to fourteen hours before his death.
What does the tollund man represent?
He represents
a desire to better one’s community through the giving of one’s own life
. The Tollund Man died through ritual human sacrifice. It is unlikely that scientists will ever know for sure what reason the Tollund Man gave his life.
Why is Tollund Man so important?
The Tollund Man is probably
the most well-preserved body from pre-historic times in the world
. The head was almost shockingly well-preserved. The eyes were closed and so was the mouth – the look on his face was calm and solemn as if he was just sleeping….
What does the Tollund Man look like?
The head was almost shockingly well-preserved. The
eyes
were closed and so was the mouth – the look on his face was peaceful and solemn as if he was just sleeping. The hair was cut short, 1-3 cm long – the red colour of his hair is due to the influence of the bog water. We don’t know his original hair colour.
What can we learn from Tollund Man?
By studying the Tollund man and other bog bodies, we
are able to see how they once lived
. However, we must be careful not to make assumptions based on our own experience of what it is to be “human” in order to fully understand ways of life other than our own.
How was tollund man removed?
After six months of preservation, just before Christmas of 1951, the scientists were able to remove
Tollund Man’s head from the casserole in which it had been stored
. It was cooled off and the wax left on the outside of the skin was washed off.
What happens if you fall in a bog?
The bog is called a quaking bog to indicate
the instability of the surface
, which will sink slightly beneath a weight. It is even possible to break through the vegetation into the water beneath. Both people and animals have drowned this way. Nonfloating bogs may also quake if the peat is thick and spongy.
What is the oldest bog body?
Experts say that the remains
of Cashel Man
are extremely well preserved for his age. Radiocarbon dating suggests that he is the earliest bog body with intact skin known anywhere in the world. He is from the early Bronze Age in Ireland about 4,000 years ago.
Who found Grauballe man?
A bog body is discovered…
This is how
Tage Busk Sørensen
, a peat-cutter who was working in the Nebelgaard Bog in Central Jutland in Denmark, describes his discovery of ‘Grauballe Man’, one of the most spectacular discoveries from Denmark’s prehistory.
