He is now the face of Iron Age Europe and perhaps the most
famous bog body in the world. But in 1950, when brothers Viggo
and Emil Hoejgaard stumbled upon him as they were cutting peat
near the village of Tollund in Aarhus, Denmark, they thought
he might be a modern murder victim. The local police, aware of
two other ancient bodies from the same bog, knew better and
contacted the Silkeborg Museum. There, and later at the
National Museum of Copenhagen, a wide range of
specialists—archeologists, forensic scientists,
radiologists, paleobotanists, even dentists—studied his
body. To learn about their findings and get an intimate view
of the 2,400-year-old
Tollund Man, click on the image at left. Tollund Man has not only
captivated scientists but also inspired a great poet. You can
hear Nobel laureate Seamus Heaney
recite his poem "The Tollund Man."—Susan K. Lewis
