Torrund Mann was the natural mummy of a man who lived in the 4th century BC, a period described in Scandinavia as the Pre-Roman Iron Age. He was hanged as a sacrifice to the gods and placed in a peat swamp, where he was preserved for more than two thousand years. Today, Torrent Mann's face is still as well preserved as it was when he died. The expression on his face was calm and serene, like watching a sleeping man.
On 6 May 1950, in the Bijerdskov Swamp, about 10 kilometres west of the Danish town of Silkeborg, the two brothers found a dead body while cutting down peat. The man's physical features were so well preserved that when he was discovered, he was mistaken for the victim of a recent murder and called the police.
The police were puzzled by the appearance of the remains and recalled two other "mud bodies" found in the same swamp in 1927 and 1938, so they asked a man named P. Archaeologists from V. Glob came to see the discovery. Recognizing that this was an ancient tomb, Glob began an effort to remove the body for further study.
In 1950, the National Museum of Denmark examined Tollund Man and found an unusually well-preserved body of an adult male, slightly over 5 feet tall, about 40 years old at the time of his death. Stubble, eyelashes and wrinkles on his skin on his chains can still be closely observed. His last meal was porridge made from 40 different seeds and grains.
With the exception of a leather hat and a wide belt around his waist, the Torends were naked. He had a woven leather rope tied around his neck in a noose. Obviously, he had been hanged — but why? Was he a criminal, a victim of a crime, or was he part of a sacrifice? Archaeologists set out to investigate to find out.
Like the other "swamp corpses" found, Torend Mann showed no signs of injury or trauma, except for the scars caused by hanging. It was clear that he was also carefully buried in the swamp—his eyes and mouth were closed, and his body was in a sleeping position—something that wouldn't have happened if he had been an ordinary criminal.
In the Iron Age, when someone died, the body was cremated in a cremation pyre and the ashes were placed in an urn, but the Tolans were buried in a water town where early Europeans believed they could communicate with many of their gods and goddesses. He was also killed in winter or early spring, when humans sacrificed the goddess of spring.
With all these factors in mind, archaeologists believe that Torrund Mann was sacrificed. He may have been a sacrifice to the gods in exchange for peat dug out of the swamp. Torrund Mann's astonishing discovery vividly shows the details of the life and death of prehistoric Danes. He now lives in a special room at the Healckburgh Museum.