Tollundmanden 70 år

When did Tollund Man die?

Often archeological findings are dated by comparing with items types we know from other contexts and which age have already been established. In principle it’s equivalent of being able to recognize if a car is from the 1950’s rather than from the 1970’s. Many bog bodies, however, are found without any objects thereby making it necessary to use natural scientific methods instead. When Tollund Man was found in 1950, the natural scientific methods for dating bog bodies were limited. During the excavation pollen samples were collected but they could only establish that he was younger than the Stone Age. However, only 2 years later the carbon-14 dating method for organic material was developed. Tollund Man has been C14-dated several times and the datings reveal that he is between 2,400 and 2,200 years old. This means he lived in the early Iron Age, also called pre-Roman or Celtic Iron Age.