Experts once uncovered the last meal of a mummified man, believed to have been eaten up to 24 hours before his death 2,400 years ago.
In 1950, two peat cutters stumbled upon a peculiar body preserved in a bog approximately 12km west of Silkeborg, Denmark.
Initially, the duo thought the body, later named Tollund Man, was a recent murder victim due to the remarkable preservation of the corpse.
However, radiocarbon dating revealed that Tollund Man was, in fact, an ancient artefact.
This naturally mummified body was that of a five-foot-three man who existed during the early Iron Age, around the fifth century BC.
Discovered with a noose around his neck, it is hypothesized that Tollund Man may have been a victim of sacrificial killing.
An autopsy confirmed that the man died by hanging, and the peat bog’s acidity had perfectly preserved his bones.
The brain and stomach of Tollund Man were also well-protected, and in 2021, a team of scientists re-examined the latter to determine what he had eaten before his death.
The findings of the research were published online by Cambridge University Press in July 2021.
Nina H. Nielsen, a lead researcher at Denmark’s Silkeborg Museum, spearheaded what National Geographic described as the ‘most comprehensive gut analysis of a bog body ever conducted’.
The study, titled The Last Meal of Tollund Man, detailed how the team used a novel analysis of plant macrofossils, pollen, non-pollen palynomorphs, steroid markers, and proteins found in the gut to identify what he had consumed 12-24 hours before his death.
“You get the idea of the average diet, but this study can actually tell you what he ate on the day he died,” stated Nielsen. “That’s what makes it really interesting—you get really close to how it all happened.”
The research indicated that Tollund Man had consumed porridge made of barley and flax, along with some fish, before his death.
The study also noted, “Proteins and eggs from intestinal worms indicate that he was infected with parasites.”
Experts found pale persicaria seeds, often removed as threshing waste, present in the stomach contents.
The inclusion of threshing waste might ‘relate to ritual practices,’ according to the study.
While the theory that Tollund Man was a sacrificial victim remains speculative, the food in his stomach supports this possibility.
Nielsen’s team concluded that the re-analysis highlighted how advancing technology could ‘throw fresh light on old questions.’
They further noted that the study would help ‘contribute to understanding life and death in the Danish Early Iron Age.’