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Tollund Man

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Oddity

The Resume

    Born in Denmark
    Mummified corpse found buried in a peat bog on the Jutland Peninsula of Denmark
    Discovered by brothers Viggo and Emil Højgaard as they were cutting peat for their stove (May 8, 1950)
    Named Tollund Man after the local village
    Radiocarbon dated to have lived between 400-350 BC (the Pre-Roman Iron Age)
    Died at around age 40 by hanging (the rope used still around his neck)
    One of several 'bog people' discovered well preserved in bogs of Northern Europe
    Displayed at the Silkeborg Museum in Denmark

Why he might be annoying:

    He was so well preserved the brothers thought they stumbled upon a recent murder victim and called police.
    Even for his time period he is considered short (5 feet, 3 inches).
    It is not known whether he was killed for some crime he committed or used as a human sacrifice.
    Conservation techniques used at the time were inadequate and only his head remains - his body is a replica.

Why he might not be annoying:

    NOVA on PBS aired a bog people show and as the best preserved he was labeled 'The Perfect Corpse.'
    He had a lousy last meal of gruel made of oats, flax, weeds, barley, bristle grass and various seeds that was duplicated, tasted and deemed 'dreadful.'
    Though he was murdered, unlike many other bog people that were tossed in haphazardly, he was gently laid to rest.
    His remains were studied and a wealth of info was obtained by archaeologists, forensic scientists, radiologists, paleobotanists and dentists.
    'The Tollund Man' was written in tribute to him by famed Irish poet Seamus Heaney.

Credit: Scar Tactics


Featured in the following Annoying Collections:

Year In Review:

    For 2024, as of last weekly ranking, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2023, Out of 17 Votes: 47.06% Annoying
    In 2022, Out of 2 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2021, Out of 11 Votes: 63.64% Annoying
    In 2020, Out of 4 Votes: 25.00% Annoying
    In 2019, Out of 3 Votes: 33.33% Annoying
    In 2018, Out of 4 Votes: 50.0% Annoying
    In 2017, Out of 1 Votes: 0% Annoying
    In 2016, Out of 18 Votes: 83.33% Annoying
    In 2015, Out of 13 Votes: 38.46% Annoying
    In 2014, Out of 14 Votes: 28.57% Annoying
    In 2013, Out of 19 Votes: 52.63% Annoying
    In 2012, Out of 15 Votes: 40.0% Annoying
    In 2011, Out of 20 Votes: 35.00% Annoying
    In 2010, Out of 27 Votes: 44.44% Annoying
    In 2009, Out of 71 Votes: 36.62% Annoying
    In 2008, Out of 398 Votes: 39.20% Annoying
    In 2007, Out of 3167 Votes: 39.82% Annoying