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forgotten my password   Short Sharp Science: A New Scientist
blog  Portrait of a bog man  Roger Highfield, editor, New
Scientist magazine  IAM_00017702.jpg(Image: Robert Clark
Institute)  Like hundreds of other bodies found in Europe's peat
bogs, this man poses haunting questions. Who is he? And how did
he die?  The body was discovered on 6 May 1950 by a family from
the village of Tollund who were digging for peat near
Bjældskovdal, Denmark. They thought they had stumbled over a
murder victim. In fact, the man dated from the 4th century BC -
the Iron Age. Examination at the National Museum of Denmark in
Copenhagen revealed he was 30 to 40 years old. Archaeologist
Peter Glob christened him "Tollund Man".  The braided leather
noose seen around his neck was strong enough to suspend a grown
man. The loose end, which is about 1 metre long, was found
rolled up and had been cut with a knife. Tollund Man had been
hanged.  Yet he had been placed in the sleepi