The Tollund Man, who lived during the 5th century BC, is a naturally mummified body from the Pre-Roman Iron Age in Scandinavia. He died between 405 and 384 BC. His body was discovered in 1950 near Silkeborg on the Jutland peninsula in Denmark. The man’s body was so well preserved that people thought he had been killed recently. Twelve years before his discovery, another bog body, called the Elling Woman, was found in the same area.

The cause of his death was determined to be hanging. However, there is not enough evidence to know whether he was killed as part of a religious ritual or as a punishment for a crime.

Identity and dating

Scientific studies show that the Tollund Man lived during the 5th century BC, a time known in Scandinavia as the Pre-Roman Iron Age, which was before the Roman Empire existed in that region. Radiocarbon dating of his remains indicates he died between 405 and 380 BC. He was estimated to be about 40 years old when he died.

His height was recorded as 1.61 metres (5 feet 3 inches). However, the process of being preserved in a bog caused his body to shrink over time, so he may have been slightly taller when he was alive.

Tests on his hair and thigh bone suggest he spent his final year in the area of modern-day Denmark. In the six months before he died, he traveled at least 32 kilometres (20 miles). These findings support the idea that he lived and died near the bog where his body was discovered.

Discovery

On May 8, 1950, peat cutters Viggo and Emil Hojgaard found a body in the peat layer of the Bjældskovdal peat bog, 12 km (7.5 mi) west of Silkeborg, Denmark. The body was so well preserved that they thought they had found a recent murder victim.

The Tollund Man was buried 60 m (200 ft) away from firm ground, covered by 2.3 m (7 ft 7 in) of peat. His body was curled up in a fetal position.

He wore a pointed cap made of sheepskin and wool, tied under his chin with a leather strap. A smooth leather belt was around his waist. A noose made of braided animal hide was tightly wrapped around his neck and trailed down his back. The rest of his body was naked.

Scientific examination and conclusions

Radiocarbon dating of Tollund Man showed that he died around 405–380 BC.

The soft tissues of his body were preserved because of the acid in the peat, the lack of oxygen underground, and the cold Nordic climate. The acid in the peat comes from a type of moss called Sphagnum. This moss has special chemicals in its cells that help protect the body from decay. Because of the peat’s acidity, bones usually dissolve instead of being preserved.

Scientists used isotope analysis of strontium to determine where he may have traveled before his death. They tested samples from his femur and hair. Because his hair was short, they could only measure up to a year of his movements. The results showed small differences in strontium levels, suggesting he lived in Denmark during his final year and may have moved at least 30 kilometers (20 miles) in his last six months.

Examinations and X-rays revealed that his head was undamaged, and his heart, lungs, and liver were well preserved. His hair was cut very short, almost hidden by his cap. He had short stubble (1 mm [0.039 in] long) on his chin and upper lip, indicating he usually kept his face clean-shaven but had not shaved on the day he died.

His feet and right thumb were well preserved by the peat and later stored in formalin for study. In 1976, Danish police made a fingerprint analysis, making Tollund Man’s thumbprint one of the oldest recorded.

In 1950, doctors concluded he died by hanging, not strangulation. The rope left furrows on his skin beneath his chin and on the sides of his neck, but no mark was found at the back of his neck where the noose’s knot would have been. A 2002 re-examination confirmed these findings. Although his neck bones were undamaged (which often happens in hanging cases), X-rays showed his tongue was swollen, a sign of death by hanging.

Tests on his stomach and intestines, first done in the 1950s and later improved, identified his last meal as porridge or gruel made from grains and seeds, both cultivated and wild. Charred seeds found in the 2020s also support this. About 40 seed types were identified, but the porridge mainly included six-rowed barley, pale persicaria, and flax. Small amounts of other seeds, such as corn spurrey, false flax, and marshland plants, were also found. Analysis in the 2020s showed barley was the main ingredient, along with other grasses and about 1% knotweed. Eggs from parasites like whipworm, tapeworm, and mawworm were found in his digestive system. Chemical tests also detected steroids and proteins from fish.

Based on how much his food was digested, he had eaten 12 to 24 hours before his death. Porridge was common for people of that time. Although fish was found in his meal, no fresh fruit was present, suggesting the meal was eaten in winter or early spring. The presence of weed seeds and sand, which would normally be removed during harvesting, suggests waste from threshing was added to his food. This has been found in other bog bodies and may have had a ritual or culinary purpose.

Cause of death

The cause of Tollund Man's death is not clearly known. Some experts think he may have been a ritual sacrifice because his body was positioned in a specific way, his eyes and mouth were closed, and he had eaten a special meal. Others believe he might have been executed, as Germanic tribes sometimes buried people who betrayed their group under piles of sticks.

Preservation and display

Tollund Man is shown at the Silkeborg Museum in Denmark as part of an exhibit about items found in bogs.

When the body was removed from the peat in 1950, scientists quickly noticed that preserving it would be difficult. Water in bogs helps keep soft tissues stable, but when the body is exposed to air, moisture can evaporate, causing the remains to shrink or break apart.

At that time, the science of preserving waterlogged organic materials was still being developed. Earlier methods sometimes caused more damage than help. For example, in the nineteenth century, people tried preserving bog finds by smoking them like meat. This slowed decay but also caused the remains to shrink and lose fine details.

Tollund Man gave researchers a special chance. Although much of the body had already started to decay when it was found, the head was in very good condition. Its features were clear enough for study, so conservators chose to focus on saving the head. The rest of the body was not preserved.

Scientists created a new preservation method step by step. First, the head was placed in a series of carefully made liquid baths. These baths slowly replaced the water in the tissues with special solutions that help stabilize them. Next, the head was placed in warm beeswax. As the wax cooled, it soaked into the cells and strengthened them from the inside. When the conservators removed the head from the wax and cleaned it, the features remained intact. The experiment was successful.

Later, the rest of the body dried out and the tissues disappeared. In 1987, the Silkeborg Museum rebuilt the body using the skeleton as a base. Today, the original head is attached to a replica of the body for display.

Other bodies

In Denmark, over 500 bog bodies and skeletons from the Iron Age have been found. Examples from Jutland include the fairly well-preserved Borremose bodies, Huldremose Woman, and Grauballe Man, which are shown at Moesgaard Museum near Aarhus. Another well-preserved example is the Haraldskær Woman. About 30 of these bog bodies are stored and/or displayed in Danish museums to continue research.

In popular culture

Seamus Heaney, a Nobel Prize-winning Irish poet, wrote poems inspired by P. V. Glob's research on mummified Iron Age bodies found in Jutland's peat bogs. He connected these ancient ritual deaths to modern political issues. His poem "The Tollund Man," from the collection Wintering Out, compares the ancient sacrifice to people who died in the sectarian violence of "the Troubles." In 1973, Heaney wrote part of the poem in the guest book at the Tollund Man exhibit.

British author Margaret Drabble used the Tollund Man in her 1989 novel A Natural Curiosity. Her characters' interest in the Tollund Man helped her criticize the political and social issues in Margaret Thatcher's England.

The Tollund Man is mentioned in songs such as "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.

The Tollund Man was referenced in the Bones TV episode "Mummy in the Maze" and in the 2016 film Sacrifice, where a bog body was discovered in the Shetland Islands.

The Tollund Man is also the focus of the novel Meet Me at the Museum by Anne Youngson. The story follows characters who form a bond through their shared interest in the Tollund Man.