Bog Bodies 
Tyler Hoffman
Monday 11:00 am
Bog Bodies
1) The stomach contents of Tollund Man and Grauballe Man consisted of porridge, made of mostly barely and wheat, parts of domesticated plants such as linseed flax and knotweed and many wild plants. A total of forty different plant seeds were found in the contents of Tollund Man’s stomach, Grauballe Man had almost sixty different species of plants in his stomach. Also, small pieces of bone and animal hairs were found, leading scientists to believe rodents must have contaminated the food used to prepare the last meals. Unlike Tollund Man and Grauballe Man, the body found in Borremose had only wild seeds in its stomach contents; no traces of porridge or cereals were found. With all the evidence from the contents of Tollund Man, Graballe Man, and Iron Age Man, scientist were able to come to the conclusion that all three men’s last meals were entirely vegetarian. Judging by the presence of chaff fragments and weeds in the last meals of these men, one could come to the conclusion they all were from poor families. When the crops failed to produce an acceptable harvest, poor families needed to stretch the crops they did harvest to be able to provide enough food until the next harvest. They would add weed seeds, runt grain and chaff pulled out of the previous year’s grain before that grain was put into storage. Poor families would also use anything harvestable from the field as food; that included weeds, and chaff as well. These parts would be made into porridge. To sum it up, the meal consisted of some kind of porridge or gruel made primarily of grain and seeds - flaxseed had probably been added in order to increase the amount of fat in the meal. As already mentioned, the contents showed no traces of meat. At an excavation close to Aalborg, archaeologists discovered a jar with a similar meal in a house from the Iron Age – just add water and put it over the fire and then you could have eaten it with great pleasure 2,000 years
Monday 11:00 am
Bog Bodies
1) The stomach contents of Tollund Man and Grauballe Man consisted of porridge, made of mostly barely and wheat, parts of domesticated plants such as linseed flax and knotweed and many wild plants. A total of forty different plant seeds were found in the contents of Tollund Man’s stomach, Grauballe Man had almost sixty different species of plants in his stomach. Also, small pieces of bone and animal hairs were found, leading scientists to believe rodents must have contaminated the food used to prepare the last meals. Unlike Tollund Man and Grauballe Man, the body found in Borremose had only wild seeds in its stomach contents; no traces of porridge or cereals were found. With all the evidence from the contents of Tollund Man, Graballe Man, and Iron Age Man, scientist were able to come to the conclusion that all three men’s last meals were entirely vegetarian. Judging by the presence of chaff fragments and weeds in the last meals of these men, one could come to the conclusion they all were from poor families. When the crops failed to produce an acceptable harvest, poor families needed to stretch the crops they did harvest to be able to provide enough food until the next harvest. They would add weed seeds, runt grain and chaff pulled out of the previous year’s grain before that grain was put into storage. Poor families would also use anything harvestable from the field as food; that included weeds, and chaff as well. These parts would be made into porridge. To sum it up, the meal consisted of some kind of porridge or gruel made primarily of grain and seeds - flaxseed had probably been added in order to increase the amount of fat in the meal. As already mentioned, the contents showed no traces of meat. At an excavation close to Aalborg, archaeologists discovered a jar with a similar meal in a house from the Iron Age – just add water and put it over the fire and then you could have eaten it with great pleasure 2,000 years