The scientific investigations on the remains of the Tollund Man tells us a great deal about civilisation during the Iron Age. These investigations tell modern society about what they ate were they lived in rough conditions and what they did as well as their Religious beliefs. I am going to explore the discovery of the Tollund Man.
Two brothers Vigo and Emil Hojgaard from a small village in Denmark called Tollund, whilst searching for peat in a peat bog they uncovered the remains of the Tollund man in a sleeping position with a noose around his neck. He was discovered on the 6th of May 1950. His last meal was found to consist of hulled barley, linseed and oats followed by seeds from a variety of plants, he ate his last meal 12-24 hours prior to his death. In this discovery it showed that the people in the Iron Age lived a very different life to us now, because most of there meals consisted of plant seeds which we know no to be weeds, it also showed that people in the Iron Age were sacrificed for lamb.
The Tollund Man was found in a peat bog in Tollund, Denmark with majority of his meal found in his colon which means that his last meal had to have been consumed 12-24 hours prior to his death, this information was found by was Botanist Hans Helbaek who concluded that his last meal had consisted of seeds from no fewer that 29 plants, pearl barley, linseed and oats. This tells us that we have many options for food now but in the Iron Age had a good meal with the right nutrition amounts was scarce and the people then would eat anything they could get there hands on to eat this also tells us that the seeds from the plants are what we call weeds now and would not eat.
A Peat Bog is a type of wetland whose soft, spongy ground is composed largely of living and decaying sphagnum moss. Decayed composted moss is known as Peat. The peat bog was important in the iron age because it helped fuel their fire, so they were warm and able to cook, it was also used as a soil additive. This tells modern society that in the Iron Age having access was greatly sought after and relied on heavily as fuelling many important things that needed to be done and cooked
The Tollund Man died, because he was sacrificed for lamb, which meant he was hung on a rod with a noose on his neck. He was hung during a winters day or early spring. Shortly after being hung he was cut down, somebody then closed his eyes, placed him in a sleeping position then placed him in an old Bog where he would stay. The cause of the Tollund Man’s death was instantly known since he still had the noose around his neck that he died on, as well as having what was known in the Iron Age as a decent meal, which showed he was not starved and killed because of something he had done it was a sacrifice for lamb. This tells us that people who lived in the Iron Age had many different beliefs and like Religious and spiritual things like sacrificing people for lamb.
The discovery of the Tollund man by Viggo and Emil Hojgaard as well as this essay By Nevaeh Boys tells us a great deal about civilisation during the iron age.