Hanged 2000 years ago.. The mystery of a man who ate porridge 12 hours before his murder!

The body was found by two farmers who were extracting peat from the Bildskoval bog near Tollund on May 8, 1950. Peat, by the way, is charred plants used as fuel.

The body was found buried two and a half metres deep in the fetal position, with a braided leather cord tied around the neck.

At first, locals thought the body was that of a child who had disappeared a year earlier, but following police intervention and specialists were called in, it became clear that the man known as the “Tollund Man” had died in the fourth century BC, and had been hanged to death more than 2,000 years ago.

This mummy, long isolated from the elements by the vegetation at the bottom of the swamp, turned out to be the best of its kind from the Iron Age. The internal organs were intact, and the face retained a light beard and wrinkles. The face was serene in contrast to the rope that held the neck, and on the head was a pointed hat made of sheepskin, tied with a belt under the chin.

Radiocarbon dating suggests the man, thought to be around 40, died between 275 and 210 BC, while strontium isotopes in his hair show he spent his last year in what is now Denmark. What’s more, scientists know he walked at least 20 miles (32 km) in the last six months of his life.

X-ray examinations also showed that the man’s head was undamaged, his heart and lungs were well preserved, and his height was regarding 161 cm.

Experts concluded that the Tollund Man died by hanging, not strangulation, as evidenced by the grooves left by the rope in the skin under the chin and on the sides of the neck.

There has been debate among specialist researchers regarding whether the man was the victim of a murder, or whether he was killed as a sacrifice. Some experts say that the position in which the man was buried, with his eyes closed and his mouth open, all suggest that he was sacrificed.

For experts, this mummified body, with their modern methods, was like a book that reveals many details of daily life in that ancient era. Among them, scientists knew that the last dinner eaten by the “Tolund Man” was a porridge cooked from wild seeds, including barley, and that the man ate his last food at least 12 hours before his death.

In the man’s skeleton, experts did not find any remains of fresh meat or fruit, which helped them conclude that his killing took place in winter or early spring. At such a time, these types of foods are not available.

It is worth noting that swamps were considered in ancient times to be the abode of evil spirits, and were associated with many myths, religious rituals and complexes.

In peat bogs in several parts of Europe, regarding 2,000 similar mummified bodies were found, buried at the bottom of these muddy areas and remained there for hundreds of years until they were discovered in modern times. Most of these mummified bodies showed signs of torture and violent death. The question currently circulating among scientists is, were these bodies of criminals who were executed in a way that was considered shameful at the time, or were they of poor destitute people who were sacrificed in the swamps as an offering to the gods?

Source: RT