#tollund

[germanicseidr]

Man Of Tollund

On 6th may 1950, the family Højgaard discovered a body of a man in the bog near the village of Tollund, Denmark. The body that they discovered was however so extremely well preserved that they initially thought that this was a recent murder victim. The family called the police but soon they realised this body was ancient.

The body was carefully dug up and sent to Kopenhagen for further research. Archeologists judged, by the age of the layer in the bog where the body was found, that this man of Tollund must be at last 2000 years old. The body was found laying on his right side in a fetus position wearing a leather cap on his head, a belt around his middle and a noose around his nek. It's crystal clear that this man was either hung or strangled to death and his body dumped in this bog somewhere during the iron age.

The body was so well preserved that all his organs were still intact, from his brains to his digestive system. His stomach even still contained the contents of his last meal, a soup made of seeds. C14-dating concluded that the man died around 350BC. His wisdom teeth were fully developed so he must have been an adult, his age is estimated to have been between 20-40 years old.

Finding bog bodies isn't too unusual. Several bog bodies have been discovered in Denmark, the Netherlands, England, Ireland and Germany, almost all of these countries were territories of ancient Germania. These bodies were all sacrificed between the bronze age until the iron age but the reason why is still not fully clear. I have written a post before on bog sacrifies a few months ago.

Places with water like the seas, rivers, lakes and bogs were seen as sacred placed by the ancient people of Northern and Western Europe, already since well before the Germanic culture developed. Countless of bronze and iron objects have been found in these bogs and rivers including a few human beings. This leads us to believe that they were sacrificed.

Almost all of these bog victims were strangled/hanged before they were placed inside the bog. This must have been part of some form of justice system. We still do not know why exactly these people were sacrificed. The only real clue that we have can be found in Tacitus' work Germania:

"One can launch an accusation before the council or bring a capital charge. The punishment varies to suit the crime. Traitors and deserters are hanged on trees. The cowardly, the unwarlike and those who disgrace their bodies are drowned in miry swamps under a cover of wicker.

The distinctionin punishments implies that criminal deeds should be paid for publicly but that the shameful deeds should be hidden away. Even for lighter offences there are proportional penalties, those found guilty are fined a certain number of horses or cattle. Part of the fine is paid to the king or state, part to the plaintiff or his kin."

Maybe this unfortunate man was considered to be a coward and therefore executed and placed in the bog. We will sadly never know the real reason but Tacitus' words provides us with some ideas of why the Germanic people did this. His death did give archeologists an unique view of how the Germanic people of modern day Denmark looked like.  

Here are photos of: Man of Tollund photo upon discovery and a close up of his head, Reconstruction of his execution, Reconstruction of his face, Map where bog bodies have been found,

[alexar60]

Retour du passé

Contrairement à d’habitude, l’atmosphère me rendait mal à l’aise. Il régnait dans cette forêt que je connaissais bien quelque chose d’anormalement glauque. Je marchai entre les arbres qui me parurent soudainement sombres quand j’entendis un énorme bruit ; Une espèce de prout venait de retentir, raisonnant tel un écho des plus étranges, on aurait dit un pet dans un bain. Néanmoins je n’avais pas envie de rire, j’accélérai le pas quand un râle provenant du même lieu se fit entendre. Par reflexe, je me demandai si on avait besoin d’aide, quelqu’un devait être blessé et je m’en serai voulu si je lis dans les journaux qu’on a retrouvé un corps là où je me suis promené.

J’avançai à travers bois hors du sentier. Un nouveau bruit survint provenant d’un étang renommé cependant isolé de tout car le coin était trop marécageux. J’approchai difficilement, parlant à voix haute pour me faire entendre pour un éventuel secours. Je commençai à douter de la présence d’une autre personne quand j’entendis de nouveau un râle pratiquement inhumain juste devant moi, la terre venait de se soulever laissant surgit un gros objet de forme noirâtre. J’approchai à pas lent pour découvrir que cela avait l’apparence d’un être humain. Un nouveau bruissement de gaz me glaça le sang, le corps venait de bouger. Je courus entre les arbres pour retrouver le chemin. Je me cassai la figure à cause d’une souche cachée par les feuilles mortes, me relevai et courus de nouveau. Puis j’avançai, mon portable à la main cherchant à appeler la police. Au bout d’une centaine de pas, le réseau passait, un agent décrocha.

Les gendarmes ont mis une demi-heure pour venir. Ils étaient trois, deux hommes et une femme. J’expliquai avoir vu un truc bizarre ressemblant à un être humain. Je guidai les policiers pour constater par eux-mêmes cette chose qui j’espérai ne me vaudrait pas une engueulade car par intéressant. En leur présence, je me sentis encore plus gêné parce que je ne n’avais pas de réelle description à donner. Nous approchâmes suffisamment  afin de voir cette étendue noire allongée près du marais. Depuis leur arrivée, les bruits ne se firent plus entendre, seulement au moment où un des agents se dirigea vers cette chose, un nouveau râle fit émerger une carcasse similaire, effrayant la policière qui sortit son arme par réflexe. Je voyais le gendarme continuer d’avancer lentement. Il prit ensuite un bâton et l’utilisa pour tapoter l’espèce d’homme.

« Incroyable ! Dit-il. C’est dingue ! ». Nous bougeâmes à notre tour. Le corps était complètement desséché comme momifié pourtant les détails du visage, des doigts, ainsi que les cheveux demeuraient visiblement bien conservés. Le second policier approcha de l’autre corps, il s’agissait d’un chien. Il était dans la même situation que le précédent, noir, desséché. Il semblait dormir en boule. Nous retournâmes sur la route principale. La découverte mobilisa toute une équipe scientifique mais très vite, un des agents confirma que le corps avait plus de mille ans.

Quelques jours plus tard, des archéologues fouillèrent les lieux. Rien d’autre ne fut retrouvé si ce n’est quelques objets noircis et préservés par l’acidité du sol. L’autopsie montra que cet homme a été égorgé, tandis que le chien abattu à coups de flèches. La datation au carbone 14 indiqua qu’il vivait vers 300 avant J.C. Tué, assassiné puis enterré dans une zone marécageuse, la terre avait décidé de ne plus accepter son anonymat, alors elle le rejeta pour qu’il puisse enfin revoir la lumière et trouver la célébrité.

Alex@r60 – juillet 2019

[witch-breaker]

The head of Tollund Man, wearing his sheepskin cap, which was fastened under the chin.

[vlemx]

Reposted from @history_and_stories The "Tollund man" is a 2400-year-old bog body and victim of human sacrifice from the Iron Age, found in Bjældskovdal in Denmark. His body was so well-preserved that even after 2400 years scientists were still able to take his fingerprints and determine what he had eaten last. Please follow our informative WW1 page @ww1_conflict )........ Please follow our amazing WW2 page @wwii_uncovered The suggestion that the Tollund Man was killed as a human sacrifice has now been reinforced by a study of the condemned man’s frugal last meal, made from a detailed investigation of the contents of his digestive tract: A porridge of barley, flax and pale persicaria. The Tollund Man is one of dozens of bog bodies from the Iron Age between about 2,500 and 1,500 years ago that have been found throughout Northern Europe. They were mummified in the bogs by the low oxygen levels, low temperatures and water turned acidic by the layers of decaying vegetation, or peat, that are found there. #prehistoric #tollund #mummies #archeologicalsite #archeological #archeology #historylove #historypassion #historia #historyinpictures #historicbridge #historybuffs #historynerds #picoftheday #historymatters #amazinghistory #denmark🇩🇰 #europeanhistory #historyphotography #archeologylife #archeologia #archeologylovers https://www.instagram.com/p/CYOZbadumVn/?utm_medium=tumblr

[prophetpedia]

TOLLUND MAN, WHO LIVED ABOUT 2,400 YEARS AGO

The ancient man’s remains were found in 1950 by a family from the nearby village of Tollund while they were digging for fuel in a pear bog. His body – and the rope tied around his neck – were so we’ll preserved, the family thought he was a recent murder victim, prompting them to call the police. But it soon became apparent that the Tollund Man had lived long ago and that the low-oxygen…

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[breizzzat]

Sorpréndase!

[bogblogging]

Photograph by Robert Clark, National Geographic

“Over 500 Iron Age bog bodies and skeletons dating to between 800 B.C. and A.D. 200 have been discovered in Denmark alone, with more unearthed in Germany, the Netherlands, the United Kingdom, and Ireland.

Much of the bodies' skin, hair, clothes, and stomach contents have been remarkably well preserved, thanks to the acidic, oxygen-poor conditions of peat bogs, which are made up of accumulated layers of dead moss.”

- Excerpt from “Who Were the Ancient Bog Mummies? Surprising New Clues” from National Geographic by Christine Dell'Amore

Full article here: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/07/140718-bog-bodies-denmark-archaeology-science-iron-age/

[archaeoprehistorica]

Prehistoric forensics: the archaeology of gruesome death