Tollund Man - wikipedia Tollund Man The well - preserved head of Tollund Man Tollund Man is a naturally mummified corpse of a man who lived during the 4th century BC, during the period characterised in Scandinavia as the Pre-Roman Iron Age. He was found in 1950 on the Jutland peninsula in Denmark, buried in a peat bog which preserved his body known as a bog body. The man 's physical features were so well - preserved that he was mistaken at the time of discovery for a recent murder victim. Twelve years before Tollund Man 's discovery, another bog body, Elling Woman, had been found in the same bog. Contents 1 Discovery 2 Scientific examination and conclusions 3 Display 4 Other bodies 5 In popular culture 6 Further reading 7 References 8 Sources 9 External links Discovery The remains of Tollund Man shortly after his discovery On 6 May 1950, peat cutters in the Bjældskovdal peat bog, 12 kilometres ( 7.5 mi ) west of Silkeborg, Denmark. discovered a corpse in the peat layer which appeared so fresh that they at first believed they had discovered a recent murder victim. The Tollund Man lay 50 metres ( 160 ft ) away from firm ground, buried under 2 metres ( 6 ft 7 in ) of peat, his body arranged in a fetal position. 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 ( 1 mm length ) on his chin and upper lip, suggesting that he had not shaved on the day of his death. Scholars believe the man was a human sacrifice rather than executed criminal because of the arranged position of his body, and the fact that his eyes and mouth were closed. Scientific examination and conclusions C radiocarbon dating of Tollund Man indicated that he died in approximately 375 -- 210 BC. 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. Due to the acidity of peat, bones are typically dissolved rather than preserved. 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 1.61 metres ( 5 ft 3 in ), 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. 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. 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. The stomach and intestines were examined and tests 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. 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. Display Tollund Man on display at Silkeborg Museum 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 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. Other bodies Further information : List of bog bodies § Denmark In Denmark, more than 500 bog bodies and skeletal remains dating to the Iron Age have been recovered. 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. 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. 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. Tollund Man is featured in separate 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 Bones and was also mentioned in the 2016 movie Sacrifice in which a bog body was found in the Shetland Islands. Further reading Coles, Bryony ; John Coles ( 1989 ). People of the Wetlands : Bogs, Bodies and Lake - Dwellers. London : Thames and Hudson. Fischer, Christian ( 2007 ). Tollundmanden : gaven til guderne : mosefund fra Danmarks forhistorie. Silkeborg : Silkeborg Museum. ISBN 978 - 87 - 7739 - 966 - 4. ( Danish ) References Jump up ^ Susan K. Lewis -- PBS ( 2006 ). `` Tollund Man ''. Public Broadcasting System -- NOVA. Retrieved 22 September 2007. ^ Jump up to : Glob, P. ( 2004 ). The Bog People : Iron - Age Man Preserved. New York : New York Review of Books. p. 304. ISBN 1 - 59017 - 090 - 3. ^ Jump up to : Silkeborg Public Library ; Silkeborg Museum ( 2004 ). `` A Body Appears ''. The Tollund Man - A Face from Prehistoric Denmark. Silkeborg Public Library. Retrieved 22 September 2007. Jump up ^ `` Violence in the Bogs '', Archaeological Institute of America Jump up ^ Silkeborg Public Library ; Silkeborg Museum ( 2004 ). `` The Tollund Man : Hair and beard ''. Silkeborg Public Library. Retrieved 10 October 2009. Jump up ^ Hart, Edward, dir. `` Ghosts of Murdered Kings ''. NOVA. Prod. Edward Hart and Dan McCabe, PBS, 29 January 2014 Jump up ^ J. van der Plicht, W.A.B. van der Sanen, A.T. Aerts, & H.J. Streurman ( 2004 ). `` Dating bog bodies by means of C - AMS '' ( PDF ). Journal of Archaeological Science. 31 ( 4 ) : 471 -- 491. doi : 10.1016 / j. jas. 2003.09. 012. CS1 maint : Multiple names : authors list ( link ) Jump up ^ Reece, Urry, Cain, Wasserman, Minorsky, Jacckson. `` L'importance écologique et économique des Bryophytes ''. Campbell Biologie 4th Edition ( 2012 ) : p. 705, 17 October 2014. Jump up ^ Silkeborg Museum, The Tollund Man 's Appearance, Silkeborg Museum and Amtscentret for Undervisning, Silkeborg Public Library, 2004 Jump up ^ Silkeborg Museum, Latest Research, Silkeborg Museum and Amtscentret for Undervisning, Silkeborg Public Library, 2004 Jump up ^ Silkeborg Museum, Was the Tollund Man Hanged ?, Silkeborg Museum and Amtscentret for Undervisning, Silkeborg Public Library ( SPL ), 2004 ^ Jump up to : Silkeborg Museum, The Last Meal, Silkeborg Museum and Amtscentret for Undervisning, Silkeborg Public Library, 2004 Jump up ^ Silkeborg Public Library ; Silkeborg Museum ( 2004 ). `` Finger - Prints ''. The Tollund Man - A Face from Prehistoric Denmark. Silkeborg Public Library. Retrieved 22 September 2007. Jump up ^ Silkeborg Public Library ; Silkeborg Museum ( 2004 ). `` Preservation of the Tollund Man ''. The Tollund Man - A Face from Prehistoric Denmark. Silkeborg Public Library. Retrieved 22 September 2007. ^ Jump up to : Dell'Amore, Christine ( July 18, 2014 ). `` Who Were the Ancient Bog Mummies ? Surprising New Clues ''. National Geographic. ^ Jump up to : O'Donoghue, Bernard ( January 1, 2009 ). The Cambridge Companion to Seamus Heaney. Cambridge University Press. pp. 194 -- 196. ISBN 978 - 0 - 521 - 83882 - 5. Jump up ^ `` The Nobel Prize Winner 's Poem about the Tollund Man ''. The Tollund Man. Silkeborg Public Library. 2004. Retrieved 20 November 2015. Jump up ^ Boxer, Sarah ( June 2, 1991 ). `` A New Literary Hero : The Limp, Silent Type ''. New York Times. Retrieved 20 November 2015. Jump up ^ Sanders, Karin ( December 1, 2009 ). Bodies in the Bog and the Archaeological Imagination. University of Chicago Press. pp. 254 -- 55. ISBN 978 - 0226734040. Jump up ^ Williams, Scott. `` Mummy in the Maze. '' Bones. Dir. Marita Grabiak. Fox. 30 Oct. 2007. Web. 15 Nov. 2016. Sources P.V. Glob : The Bog People : Iron - Age Man Preserved, New York Review of Books ( New York ) 2004, ISBN 1 - 59017 - 090 - 3. Translated from the Danish original : Mosefolket, 1965 ISBN 87 - 00 - 20201 - 0. External links Wikimedia Commons has media related to Tollundmanden. Tollund Man - A Face from Prehistoric Denmark Tollund Man at PBS The Tollund Man at the Wayback Machine ( archived 1 September 2000 ) The Tollund Man and The Tollund Man in Springtime by Seamus Heaney National Geographic September 2007 : `` Tales From the Bog '' Image of the facial reconstruction to show what Tollund Man had looked when he was alive Coordinates : dewiki 56 ° 9 ′ 52 '' N 9 ° 23 ′ 34 '' E ﻿ / ﻿ 56.16444 ° N 9.39278 ° E ﻿ / 56.16444 ; 9.39278 hide Bog body Bog bodies Lindow Man Lindow Woman Tollund Man Grauballe Man Haraldskær Woman Windeby I Borremose bodies Clonycavan Man Old Croghan Man Yde Girl Osterby Man Girl of the Uchter Moor Cashel Man Damendorf Man Elling Woman Amcotts Moor Woman Kayhausen Boy Bocksten Man Koelbjerg Man ( formerly woman ) Gunnister Man Stoneyisland Man Weerdinge Men Archaeological sites Cladh Hallan Wittmoor bog trackway Thorsberg moor Nydam Mose Bourtange moor Falbygden Windover archaeological site Little Salt Spring Lindow Moss Chat Moss See also Bog body List of bog bodies Bog butter Wetland deposits in Scandinavia Gundestrup cauldron Ralaghan Man The Bog People Peter Glob Mummy Ritual sacrifice Retrieved from `` https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Tollund_Man&oldid=866137032 '' Categories : 4th - century BC births 4th - century BC deaths Bog bodies Germanic archaeological artifacts Archaeological discoveries in Denmark Pre-Roman Iron Age Historical people who were forensically reconstructed 1950 in Denmark 1950 archaeological discoveries May 1950 events Hidden categories : CS1 maint : Multiple names : authors list All articles with dead external links Articles with dead external links from July 2018 Articles with permanently dead external links Webarchive template wayback links Coordinates not on Wikidata Talk Contents About Wikipedia Afrikaans Ænglisc Беларуская Català Čeština Dansk Deutsch Eesti Español Esperanto Français Bahasa Indonesia Italiano עברית Limburgs Magyar Nederlands Nedersaksies 日本 語 Norsk Norsk nynorsk Plattdüütsch Polski Português Русский Simple English Slovenščina Српски / srpski Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски Suomi Svenska ไทย Türkçe Українська 中文 27 more Edit links This page was last edited on 28 October 2018, at 14 : 24 ( UTC ). Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution - ShareAlike License ; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia ® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization. About Wikipedia

Question: what was the cause of the tollund man's death
Answer: hanging