Many experts view Tollund Man as the most spectacular bog body ever discovered. “He lies there like a person asleep, looking as though he might wake up and talk to us at any moment,” says Ole Nielsen, director of the Silkeborg Museum, where Tollund Man’s remains are on display. “But he won’t, so we have to get to know him in other ways.”
Shortly after the body was found, an examination at a Danish hospital showed that Tollund Man had died by hanging, probably from the noose that was still around his neck, and was then buried in the bog. Doctors estimated he was about 40 years old when he died. After the body was excavated, his head and right foot were removed and chemically preserved, and the rest of the body was allowed to dry.