Grauballe Man

1. Grauballe Man

2. Discovery • When?: 1952 - 2 years after Tollund Man • Where?: Nebelgard Fen, a bog closely located to the village of Grauballe in Jutland, Denmark. • How? He was found by 2 peat cutters (peat is used as a fuel in this part of Europe).

3. Mistaken identity • Upon the initial discovery of Grauballe man there was debate as to whether his remains were from a local peat cutter, Red Christian that disappeared in the same area around 1887. Red Christian was supposedly fond of alcohol and people assumed he fell into a bog and drowned because two drunk Cheshire men at Lindow moss in 1853 suffered the same fate.

4. Extraction of the body • The peat cutters reported their discovery to the local doctor who recognised that this body may actually be another example of the “bog bodies” found in Denmark. • He called an archaeologist from the nearby Moesgård Museum of Prehistory. • The next morning Professor P.V. Glob arrived at the site and with the help of the workers carefully cut the peat away from one side of the body. • He sketched and photographed the body. • To make sure that it was safely preserved, he asked the workers to construct a crate. • Sheets of corrugated metal were driven into the ground beside and under the body so that it could be carried away from the site still encased in its own block of peat.

5. Extraction of the body • The peat containing the Grauballe Man was taken to the Museum of Prehistory where the peat was removed. • Question: why do you think they waited until the body was at the Museum to remove the peat? • GrauballeMan’s bones has softened so much that they could now be bent, plaster casts of the body were made to ensure that it would be returned to its original position after scientific study,

6. The body • Carbon 14 dating – dates the body to 55BC during the Iron Age. • He appeared naked and was laying on his chest with his head and upper body facing north, his left leg extended and right arm and right leg bent.

7. Findings • Grauballe man was identified as being around 30 years old at the time of his death. This was determined by inspecting his teeth. • 1.75 m tall • He still had hair about 5cm long and stubble on his chin. • While inspecting his body, the Maesgard Museum found a deep cut across Grauballe man's throat from ear to ear, and suggested that this was his cause of death. • Due to the detail and preservation of his fingerprints it was unlikely that he performed manual labour. His skin also showed no signs of manual labour. • The body was quite compressed and flat upon its discovery which archaeologists believe was due to layers of peat pressing on it over the centuries.

8. Findings • Initial x-rays conducted on the body showed fractures on his skull and right tibia which were initially interpreted as contributing to his death. • Previous x-rays were difficult to read – the bones, demineralized by acidic bog waters, looked like glass. • Therefore, in 2000 Grauballe Man was re-examined and further x-rays and 1362 CT cross sections were taken of the body. The new scans included much more detailed cross sections of Grauballe Man than previous technology provided. • The results showed new evidence that he was missing four lumbar vertebrae, and the fracture in his skull that was previously interpreted as a wound is now shown to be from pressure in the bog, or from the time of removal from the bog when a spectator accidentally stood on his head. • GrauballeMan’s broken leg could also be the work of the bog and not, as some scholars had thought, proof of a vicious blow to force him to kneel for execution.

9. Autopsy Results • GrauballeMan's teeth were far from healthy, and he certainly must have suffered from toothaches, as he had cavities. • In his intestines were eggs of a whipworm and a parasite – this was not uncommon at this time. • Arthritis was starting in his spine. • His stomach and intestines were intact.They were removed them for further analysis • Upon dissection of his stomach, archeologists found that Grauballe Man had eaten porridge or gruel made from corn, seeds from over 60 different herbs, and grasses with traces of the poisonous funghiergot right before his death.

10. The symptoms of ergot fungus • The presence of this fungus causes convulsions and a burning sensation in the mouth, hands, and feet. • It is suggested that this fungus could have been deliberately administered to induce hallucinations and a coma before his death, but it is more likely that he ingested the fungus through natural means. • If he was showing signs of ergot madness it is possible that his bizarre behaviour was interpreted as being possessed by an evil force.  • Thisbehaviour could have caused the community to put him to death and deposit him in a bog far from the township.

11. Hypotheses regarding death P.V. Glob • Using the work of Roman historian Tacitus and other early authors, Glob concluded that Grauballe Man had been sacrificed as performed by the people of northern Europe during the Iron Age. • He argued that because GrauballeMan’s hands were not calloused, he may have been an important member of his society and a more likely candidate for sacrifice. • To strengthen his argument he suggested that the soup he had ingested before his death could have been intended to induce drowsiness or a coma. • The contents of his stomach also indicate that he died in late winter or early spring and as such he could have been an offering to the goddess of spring. • Furthermore, because his throat was cut, his blood may have been used as a part of the ceremony. From: Deem, J.M., 1998, Bodies from the Bog, Houghton Mifflin Company, Singapore.

12. Hypotheses regarding death Giles, 2009: • He suggests that the bog bodies were chosen because they each displayed some sort of abnormality or deformity. • His theory is that these bodies were chosen as scapegoats to be used as sacrifice at a time of crises. • For Grauballe man, the presence of ergot fungus in his system could be the hint as to why he would have been chosen (as he would have appeared to be mad due to the effects of the fungus). • Giles, M., 2009. Iron Age bog bodies of north-western Europe. Representing the dead, Archaeological Dialogues 16 (1),

13. Hypotheses about death Parker Pearson, 1986: • Based on the deep throat wound and presence of poisonous fungi in his stomach that causes madness, the evidence suggests that the reason for Grauballe Man's death was due to human sacrifice or public execution of social outcasts, but it is impossible to attach a single explanation for the cause of his death . • Parker Pearson, M. 1986. Lindow Man and the Danish Connection: Further Light on the Mystery of the Bogman, Anthropology Today 2 (1), pp. 15-18.

14. Hypotheses about death NielsLynnerup of the University of Copenhagen, • Lynnerup, archaeologist Pauline Asingh, and other members of the team now interpret Grauballe Man’s death some 2,300 years ago as a sacrifice to one of the fertility goddesses that Celtic and Germanic peoples believed held the power of life and death. It could have happened one winter after a bad harvest, the researchers say. People were hungry, reduced to eating chaff and weeds (as found in his stomach). They believed that one of their number had to die so the rest could survive. • His last meal was possiblyduring winter because of the lack of berries and fresh herbs in his last meal, preserved in his stomach.

15. Re-creation of his last hours… • Grauballe Man, a strapping 34-year-old, apparently learned his fate a few days in advance: Stubble on his jaw indicates that he stopped shaving. Then came the terrible hour when the villagers—perhaps his friends and family—led him into a nearby bog. They picked their way among holes dug for peat and bog iron, the ore from which Iron Age people forged tools and weapons. At the edge of a flooded pit, one of them pulled back Grauballe Man’s head and, with a short knife, slit his throat from ear to ear. The executioner pushed the dying man into the pit. The body twisted as it fell and was swallowed by the bog.