Tollund Man Research Paper
Tollund Man
Tollund Man was lying on the right side of his body, legs pulled up to his chest, his facial expression calm and peaceful. When he was found, he was so well preserved that the two brothers, who found his body, had thought that he was recently murdered and dumped in the bog. They quickly called the police of Silkeborg and since previously there were bodies found in the peat bog before, the police didn’t call the forensic investigators but a scientist, P.V. Glob to come and view the discovery. He understood that it was an ancient burial and transported the body to the National Museum of Copenhagen for further examinations. When they had finished the examinations, they found out that Tollund Man was 30-40 years of age at death …show more content…
and he was 1.6 metres tall.
Tollund Man is now in a special room of the Silkeborg Museum, Denmark.
Place of discovery
The body of Tollund man was discovered on the 6th of May 1950 in the Bjældskovdal bog approximately 10 km west of Silkeborg, in Denmark, by two brothers who were peat cutters.
How were the archaeologists able to date the body and/or any artefacts found with the body? You must provide specific dating techniques used.
Archaeologists were able to date Tollund Man’s body, his belt, his hat and the noose around his neck by using a dating method called Carbon-14 several times to finally get to a conclusion about approximately when he was buried. Before they used Carbon-Dating, they had inspected the peat bog he was in and quickly concluded that he was buried around 2000 years earlier but then they used Carbon-14 to get a more accurate estimate. Many samples were taken from both soft and hard tissue and they were able to presume that Tollund Man died between 375–210 BC.
The circumstances surrounding the discovery of the body
When they had discovered the body, they examined the peat bog he was buried in as well and specialists in geology could tell that the bog was made the same time the Tollund Man was buried in it. There were some occasions where they have found spades and earthenware vessels in peat bogs. It was then they realised that people of the Iron Age dug peat as well. Archaeologists and geologists believe that they used to cut peat when there weren’t enough wood for
fuel.
How the body was able to be preserved for such an extended period of time.
Tollund Man’s body was completely covered by the peat bog he was laying in.Peat bogs contains about 95% water and 5% organic matter, mostly partly-rotted plants. It is both wet and acidic and contains very little oxygen. Peat bogs include very few of the organisms that attack dead flesh and make it decay. A dead body decays when there is oxygen so when the Tollund Man’s body was stripped of oxygen, his body couldn’t decay and instead was preserved.
The possible causes of death
With the artefacts that were found, they have theorized that he was sacrificed to the gods or killed as a convict but they didn’t find any signs of him being assaulted so being killed as a convict was ruled out. There was a neck ring around Tollund Man’s neck and neck rings were only worn on the people who were going to be sacrificed to the Spring Goddess. This piece of significant artefact makes us pretty certain that it was a sacrifice as the Iron Age people had worshipped the Spring Goddess very profoundly. His body was also very carefully treated after he was hung, not dumped but carefully laid down into the bog. When somebody dies in the Iron Age, they cremate them, put their remains in an urn and then bury them.
Forensic examiners at the time removed Tollund Man’s stomach and intestines and it was after the passed the contents to a specialist in plants that they found out what he ate before he died. The ‘porridge’ or ‘gruel’ he ate consisted of over 40 different types of seeds and grains, barley, flaxseed, false flax and knotgrass but there was no trace of meat, fruit, fishes at all. The seeds and grains were found in spring so this is another way we could make sure that the Tollund Man was sacrificed.
What does the evidence reveal about their life and times? (e.g. physical appearance, clothing, evidence of the environment, religious beliefs, cultural practices and or associated rituals of that time.)
The people of the Iron Age, Tollund Man’s time, we have realised, have performed many human sacrifices as part of their religious rituals to their Gods and Goddesses. Tollund Man was one of the people who were sacrificed for this purpose to their Spring Goddess. They would sacrifice people, livestock, food and vessels just to stay on good terms with them. Since Tollund Man was found with a sheep skin hat, we are very sure that people of the Iron Age used animal skin to make clothes.
What are the ethical issues facing archaeologists in relation to the human remain?
There are always ethical issues with the excavation and display of human remains as not all people are comfortable with seeing human remains. There are many bodies that are found and there are arguments on who those bodies belong to and are we allowed to examine, touch, analyse and display the ancient body. It is a true fact that after you examine a body, the body will start to decay because it isn’t in the same environment as it was before. Many say that we have to respect the body and we have to ask for permission but the Tollund Man and all the other bog bodies are ancient so who do we ask for permission?
Then we come to the conclusion that how could we find out about the past and the people who lived in the past if we don’t examine the bodies?
The role science has played in assisting archaeologist’s reconstruct the past in relation to the body?
Science has played a very important role in assisting archaeologist’s to reconstruct the past in relation to the body because without science, we wouldn’t be able to work out how old the body was, we wouldn’t know their lifestyle and we wouldn’t know many other things. We use Carbon 14 to help us work out the age of ancient bodies and we use chemical analysis of a body's hair and nails to help reveal a person's lifestyle before they died. Without science, there are many things in this world that will be unknown. Science is a big part of our life.
Even though science is usually accurate, not all archaeologists and scientists agree on the facts that are found out. They may all have their own theory and evidences.
Tollund Man was lying on the right side of his body, legs pulled up to his chest, his facial expression calm and peaceful. When he was found, he was so well preserved that the two brothers, who found his body, had thought that he was recently murdered and dumped in the bog. They quickly called the police of Silkeborg and since previously there were bodies found in the peat bog before, the police didn’t call the forensic investigators but a scientist, P.V. Glob to come and view the discovery. He understood that it was an ancient burial and transported the body to the National Museum of Copenhagen for further examinations. When they had finished the examinations, they found out that Tollund Man was 30-40 years of age at death …show more content…
and he was 1.6 metres tall.
Tollund Man is now in a special room of the Silkeborg Museum, Denmark.
Place of discovery
The body of Tollund man was discovered on the 6th of May 1950 in the Bjældskovdal bog approximately 10 km west of Silkeborg, in Denmark, by two brothers who were peat cutters.
How were the archaeologists able to date the body and/or any artefacts found with the body? You must provide specific dating techniques used.
Archaeologists were able to date Tollund Man’s body, his belt, his hat and the noose around his neck by using a dating method called Carbon-14 several times to finally get to a conclusion about approximately when he was buried. Before they used Carbon-Dating, they had inspected the peat bog he was in and quickly concluded that he was buried around 2000 years earlier but then they used Carbon-14 to get a more accurate estimate. Many samples were taken from both soft and hard tissue and they were able to presume that Tollund Man died between 375–210 BC.
The circumstances surrounding the discovery of the body
When they had discovered the body, they examined the peat bog he was buried in as well and specialists in geology could tell that the bog was made the same time the Tollund Man was buried in it. There were some occasions where they have found spades and earthenware vessels in peat bogs. It was then they realised that people of the Iron Age dug peat as well. Archaeologists and geologists believe that they used to cut peat when there weren’t enough wood for
fuel.
How the body was able to be preserved for such an extended period of time.
Tollund Man’s body was completely covered by the peat bog he was laying in.Peat bogs contains about 95% water and 5% organic matter, mostly partly-rotted plants. It is both wet and acidic and contains very little oxygen. Peat bogs include very few of the organisms that attack dead flesh and make it decay. A dead body decays when there is oxygen so when the Tollund Man’s body was stripped of oxygen, his body couldn’t decay and instead was preserved.
The possible causes of death
With the artefacts that were found, they have theorized that he was sacrificed to the gods or killed as a convict but they didn’t find any signs of him being assaulted so being killed as a convict was ruled out. There was a neck ring around Tollund Man’s neck and neck rings were only worn on the people who were going to be sacrificed to the Spring Goddess. This piece of significant artefact makes us pretty certain that it was a sacrifice as the Iron Age people had worshipped the Spring Goddess very profoundly. His body was also very carefully treated after he was hung, not dumped but carefully laid down into the bog. When somebody dies in the Iron Age, they cremate them, put their remains in an urn and then bury them.
Forensic examiners at the time removed Tollund Man’s stomach and intestines and it was after the passed the contents to a specialist in plants that they found out what he ate before he died. The ‘porridge’ or ‘gruel’ he ate consisted of over 40 different types of seeds and grains, barley, flaxseed, false flax and knotgrass but there was no trace of meat, fruit, fishes at all. The seeds and grains were found in spring so this is another way we could make sure that the Tollund Man was sacrificed.
What does the evidence reveal about their life and times? (e.g. physical appearance, clothing, evidence of the environment, religious beliefs, cultural practices and or associated rituals of that time.)
The people of the Iron Age, Tollund Man’s time, we have realised, have performed many human sacrifices as part of their religious rituals to their Gods and Goddesses. Tollund Man was one of the people who were sacrificed for this purpose to their Spring Goddess. They would sacrifice people, livestock, food and vessels just to stay on good terms with them. Since Tollund Man was found with a sheep skin hat, we are very sure that people of the Iron Age used animal skin to make clothes.
What are the ethical issues facing archaeologists in relation to the human remain?
There are always ethical issues with the excavation and display of human remains as not all people are comfortable with seeing human remains. There are many bodies that are found and there are arguments on who those bodies belong to and are we allowed to examine, touch, analyse and display the ancient body. It is a true fact that after you examine a body, the body will start to decay because it isn’t in the same environment as it was before. Many say that we have to respect the body and we have to ask for permission but the Tollund Man and all the other bog bodies are ancient so who do we ask for permission?
Then we come to the conclusion that how could we find out about the past and the people who lived in the past if we don’t examine the bodies?
The role science has played in assisting archaeologist’s reconstruct the past in relation to the body?
Science has played a very important role in assisting archaeologist’s to reconstruct the past in relation to the body because without science, we wouldn’t be able to work out how old the body was, we wouldn’t know their lifestyle and we wouldn’t know many other things. We use Carbon 14 to help us work out the age of ancient bodies and we use chemical analysis of a body's hair and nails to help reveal a person's lifestyle before they died. Without science, there are many things in this world that will be unknown. Science is a big part of our life.
Even though science is usually accurate, not all archaeologists and scientists agree on the facts that are found out. They may all have their own theory and evidences.