The final meal
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Body Preserved in a Bog Since the Iron Age Still Contains Undigested Last Meal
A re-analysis of the stomach contents belonging to a naturally mummified Iron Age man is providing new insights into his surprisingly nutritious final meal and compromised state of health.
Tollund Man died around 400 BCE in what is now the Jutland peninsula of Denmark. He died by hanging, in what is believed to be a ritual sacrifice. His body was preserved in a Danish bog for 2,400 years, allowing for an analysis of his stomach contents.
The new findings, published in Antiquity, suggest Tollund Man ate his final meal some 12 to 24 hours before his death and that it consisted of porridge and fish—both common dishes during the Danish Early Iron Age. It was a nutritious, likely tasty meal, but Tollund Man was not in the best of health, as he was infected with several parasites. The new research was led by archaeologist Nina Nielsen from the Silkeborg Museum in Denmark.
The well-preserved remains of Tollund Man were accidentally discovered in 1950. A forensic analysis was carried out the same year, in which his digestive system—along with its contents—were studied and documented by scientists. The autopsy revealed the ingredients of Tollund Man’s final meal—barley, flax, gold-of-pleasure seeds, seeds of pale persicaria, and the remnants of 16 other plant species.
