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When a family cutting peat for fuel discovers a mysterious body in a Danish swamp in 1950, they assume the well-preserved body is the latest victim of a local killer. In fact, he was completely different. Although the man was murdered, his remains date from the Iron Age, about 2,400 years ago.
Now known only as Tollund Man, his incredibly preserved face, unshaven and slightly smiling, secures him his place as one of the world’s most famous bog corpses. However, the mystery is further compounded by the fact that he is an alleged victim of human sacrifice.
In the decades since his discovery, scientists have studied Trundmann extensively and compiled more detailed information about his life and death. Here’s what you need to know about the naturally mummified man.
Who was Tollundmann?
The presence of wisdom teeth suggests that Tollund was at least 20 years old when he died in Denmark’s Bjardskofdal bog on the Jutland peninsula, but researchers believe he was actually between 30 and 40 years old. I think it was between. Radiocarbon dating indicates that he died sometime between 405 and 380 BC.
(We thought we knew the secrets of Europe’s wetlands.did not do it. )
Torlundman, approximately 5 feet 3 inches tall, was found lying with a rope around his neck. An autopsy revealed that he died by hanging, as his neck and face were very well preserved.
After his death, the acidity of the peat bog preserved Tollundman’s bones and much of his soft tissue, including his intact but shrunken brain and gut with contents. Tollund Man’s skin and nails had hardened and turned black from thousands of years spent in an oxygen-deprived swamp environment. However, its complete decomposition was prevented by chemicals produced when sphagnum moss, the main moss that makes up peat, decomposes.
His remains are now preserved at the Silkeborg Museum, a Danish cultural heritage museum, near the site of discovery.
Who were his people?
The Tollunds lived during the early Iron Age, years before Rome conquered most of Europe. At that time, Jutland had a large population, villages and farms. Peasants of this era cultivated grain, kept animals, and engaged in religious rituals that involved leaving sacrifices (food, weapons, and sometimes human bodies) in local swamps.
Modern researchers believe that these swamps may have been considered supernatural places with connections to the gods and the afterlife. However, the inhabitants of Jutland did not leave behind written texts, so it is unclear what actually drove their religious rituals.
(This ancient society tried to stop El Niño by sacrificing children. )
what he was wearing
Bogs are famous for preserving clothing with bodies, such as the knitted garment that wrapped a body in a Scottish bog discovered in 1951. However, Toland’s man was buried naked, wearing little clothing, only a hat and belt.
Further investigation revealed that Tollundman likely wore shoes for part of the year, but walked barefoot most of the time. There was stubble on his face and he must have shaved.
his last meal
In 2021, researchers discovered the contents of Tollundmann’s last meal: porridge containing barley, various wild seeds, flax, and fish. Intestinal analysis also revealed that, unlike other famous bog bodies, Tollundman was not under the influence of edible hallucinogens or other medicinal plants at the time of his death. This is usually a sign of human sacrifice.
(Evidence shows that the children of these Inca victims were drugged. )
his death
But scientists argue that Tollundmann may have been the victim of a ritual sacrifice. The wide variety of seeds and weeds found in his intestines are similar to those found in the digestive tracts of other possible wetland victims.
“People have suggested that maybe they’re doing human sacrifice because there’s something wrong with the environment,” archaeologist Henry Chapman said of these victims in a 2021 interview. . national geographic. These cases lead researchers to believe that they may have sacrificed a variety of foods during their lifetime, perhaps in response to environmental changes that threatened agriculture or food sources.
Another possibility is that Tollund Man’s death may have been something more sinister. Perhaps he was a criminal, committed suicide, or was part of the revenge killings that were believed to be taking place in Scandinavia at the time. Other swamp bodies found throughout the region show signs of deliberate killing and horrific abuse of the corpses.
(700-year-old murder victim Boxstenman’s face reconstructed. )
However, despite being clearly killed deliberately, Tollundmann’s body was also carefully buried, with his mouth and eyes closed. After all, that careful burial and his hanging, as well as the fact that cremation and grave burial were more common at the time than throwing the body into a swamp, have led many researchers to believe that his death was somehow sacred. This is why I believe it was part of a great sacrifice.
the mystery left behind by him
Nearly 75 years after its discovery, Tollund Man may continue to provide even more information to curious archaeologists. His head was carefully preserved and put on display in Denmark while scientists conducted their first experiments on the bog body. But his body was dry and not in its place, no, it was not in its place.
For decades, no one knew where this swamp’s limbs and organs were. This led to his bizarre treasure hunt in the 1980s, when researchers equipped with new technology realized the potential value of the remains of the remains and asked for the public’s help in finding the rest of the bodies. I did.
(Ötzi the Iceman: What we know 30 years after his discovery. )
It turned out that the severed parts were stored in various museums and institutions across Denmark. The hunt yielded all but the internal organs and Swamp’s right big toe, but its location remained a mystery until the former conservator’s children returned it to the museum after their father’s death.
“Almost all the body parts are now in museums.”[’]”, the Silkeborg Museum says on its website. “But what if someone came across a mysterious bottle containing something? [be] We look forward to hearing from you about his internal organs. ”
These remains could provide further insights, but researchers have so far been unsuccessful in obtaining ancient DNA from Tollundman’s tissue.
During that time, the Swamp Man has inspired everything from poetry to music to children’s books. This is evidence of the continuing fascination he evokes among both scientists and the general public. “He’s not just a museum piece, he’s a human being,” said one archaeologist. era “We refuse to believe he is dead. Behind the warmth of his face and great humor is a living human being.”
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