Grauballe Man

Grauballe Man. Big picture

Two years after the Tollund Man was discovered - in 1952 - another body of a man was discovered in Nebel Mose close to Silkeborg. The people who discovered him came from the village and that is why the man was given the name Grauballe Man.

He had been buried in an excavation in the peat bog just like the other bog bodies. His face was well-preserved but very distorted. This is primarily due to the fact that he was killed by having his throat cut from ear to ear. His left crus was broken but that probably happened after he died. The weight of the peat that covered him might have caused his leg to break.

Grauballe Man's hands and feet were unusually well-preserved. Grauballe Man can be dated back to approximately the same time period as the Tollund Man, the early Iron age. He is now on display at Moesgaard Museum in Aarhus.

Grauballe Man when he was just discovered. Big picture

Grauballe Man had been placed in an old excavation in the peat bog pointing north-south with his face and chest turned downwards, with his left leg stretched and his right leg and arm bent. You can tell by studying the excavation in the peat bog that it was full of water when he was placed in it and that he sank to the bottom of it within a short period of time. This indicates that he was placed in the bog during a cold season.

Grauballe Man was approximately 30 years old when he died. He was completely naked when he was discovered, which was also the case with the Tollund Man who was only wearing a cap and a leather belt when he was discovered. In both cases the clothes might have been placed close by, which has often been the case with other bog bodies. The clothes might later have dissolved and disappeared due to peat-digging. They might also have worn clothes made of flax and/or nettle which will not be preserved in the bog.

Just like the Tollund Man Grauballe Man had his aliementary canal examined to find traces of his last meal. It turned out to have consisted of gathered weed seeds, just as it was the case with the Tollund Man. However, small pieces of bones indicate that meat was also a part of his last meal.