Tollund+Man

Tollund Man
Gabrielle V and Tessa Q

The Discovery Preservation Lifestyle of Tollund Man The Role of Science and Archaeology: appearence, cause of death

The Tollund man is and continues to be one of Europe's most famous and influential ancient human remains to date. The conditions in which he was preserved for several thousands of years meant his body has been kept in a state that allows archaeologists to study and draw conclusions about those that lived during his time; Celtic Iron Age, and has provided us with an invaluable look into the past.

Discovery
The Tollund man is an ancient preserved body found in Bjældskovdal, which is a bog area located approximately 10 kilometres west of Silkeborg, on May 8th 1950 by two brothers and their family who had been digging for peat to use as fuel. Reportidly, the body appeared so fresh, those that discovered it assumed it was a recent murder. However since the body was found 2.5 metres into the peat bog and no signs of disturbance to the area had been found, it was concluded that the death of the Tollund Man was most definetly not recent. After police surveyed the scene, they chose to call in Professor P.V. Glob from Aarhus who was a famous archaeologist at the time, as they knew an important discovery had been made.

It was infact P.V. Glob that brought about the world wide recognised name of Tollund Man; said to be chosen as the two finders of the body came from the small town of Tollund. The excavation of the area began soon after, attracting much media attention as it was a massive discovery for such a small district.

The bog revealed much information about the time period the Tollund Man was from. It was established that he lived in the Iron Age, or Celtic Iron Age, and to this date no other bog body has told us as much about the everyday lives lived in the relevent age.

Preservation
Preservation means the way in which a body is prevented from decaying over time, it is widely used by many ancient and modern societies, however the Tollund Man is one of the best naturally preserved bodies in history. It is currently thought that he was a victim of murder, due to either the commiting of a crime or sacrafice, he was hanged: we know this from the rope tied in noose like manner around his neck and fetal position in which he was layed. Either way, the conditions in the peat is what caused his body to be so well preserved. The lack of oxygen and water meant his body didn't get a proper chance to decay after his death, hence why the Tollund Man's skin, bones and clothing is in almost its original condition.

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Lifestyle
Through the use of carbon-14 dating, the Tollund Man was placed in the Celtic Iron Age, the Iron Age itself is said to have lasted between 500 B.C - 800 A.D. According to the test results, it was proven that he was alive in the earlier years of the Iron Age (B.C) known also as the pre-Roman iron age (Celtic Iron Age). Everday life in the Iron Age was marked by its labour and hard working lifestyle, therefore clothes and fashion were of particular importance for comfort and practicality. Along with the testing of the Tollund Man and scientific discoveries world wide, archaeologists and scientists now know that grain was the staple of a household at the time. Evidence of the Tollund Man's last meal can be found throughout his internal organs (stomache) due to his quality of preservation, and grain that resembles modern day porridge made of barley and oat can be found. It is then assumed that he was most likely a man of ordinary status, possibly a farmer or captured enemy slave. At the time, people did worship gods, however it is still unknown to who or what these gods were. The sacrafices that occured due to their religious beliefs were thought to be of earthenware vessels containing food such as; livestock, and in cases humans. This suggests a possibly motive for his death. Funeral practices in the Celtic Iron Age were based upon cremation in which the ashes and bones were placed in an urn and buried, much like some practices today. This was not applied to the Tollund Man suggesting that he may have been disrespected amongst his community. []

Appearence
The Tollund Man was discovered wearing only a leather cap, made of eight pieces of sheepskin (fur on inside) sown together using wool string, a belt tied around his waist and a noose like rope tied around his neck. His age was estimated between 30-40 years old through the x-raying of the Tollund Man's teeth, this as well as the adhesions on his skull and various bones structures. However due to the difference in time between the present and Celtic Iron Ages, the current methods used to find the age of a body at death may not correlate to other times. It is believed that in more Ancient times, peoples bodies aged faster, hence the Tollund Man is predicted to be more likely towards the late thirties of his life when he died. The features of his body had remained remarkably well preserved; his head was almost of its original form with the exculsions of hair colour which had turned red due to the bog water, his hands whilst almost skeletonalised were in good condition (unfortuantly certain areas were damaged during excavations). The Tollund Man's structural positoning was in a fetal arrangement, with his arms tucked up towards his chest and legs curled up towards the upper body and crossed over. A rope tied in a noose around his neck is the most interesting and revealing of items found with the Tollund Man, its shape and sizing suggests it was strong enough the hold the weight of a full grown man and the creases made into the side of the neck say just so. The use of the belt tied around his waist is still debated amoungest archaeologists and scientists, but the cause of death is almost entirely accepted by all examination parties involved.

Cause and Manner of Death
The death of the Tollund Man is almost 100% confirmed due to the items and evidence that was found on his body at the time of his death. The rope (noose) tied around his neck when he died had clearly cut into the sides of his neck, suggesting strain and body weight had cause the rope to pull upwards into his skin. The loose end found underneath the Tollund Man and once attached to the noose around his neck, is estimated to be roughly 1 metre long and cut off with a knife, typical of hanging proceedures. Forensic investigators then decided that the obvious cause of death was that the Tollund Man was hanged most likely in a sacrafical proceeding due to his appearence.



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