Last meal of 2400-year-old ‘bog body’ suggests man was ritually sacrificed

Sign up for our free Health Check email to receive exclusive analysis on the week in health Get our free Health Check email Get our free Health Check email SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Scientists have probed the gut contents of Tollund Man, a well-preserved “bog body” from the Early Iron Age in Denmark, and found that his last meal likely indicates he was ritually sacrificed 2,400 years ago. Bog bodies are human remains mummified by acidic peat bogs that leave behind preserved skin, hair, nails and sometimes even internal organs like intestines, according to scientists, including those from the Danish National Museum. The Tollund Man, one such “bog body” found in 1950 in Bjaeldskovdal, Denmark, was reported in earlier studies as a 30- to 40-year-old who lived some time approximately between 405 and 380 BC, the beginning of the Danish Early Iron Age. The scientists believe further studies of bog bodies with more modern techniques can yield fresh insights to old questions and help better understand life and death during the Early Iron Age.