Grauballe Man
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/99/Grauballemanden_stor.jpg/310px-Grauballemanden_stor.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f4/Grauballe_Man%2C_Moesgaard_Museum_2.jpg/310px-Grauballe_Man%2C_Moesgaard_Museum_2.jpg)
The Grauballe Man is a
Grauballe Man has been described as "one of the most spectacular discoveries from Denmark's prehistory"[1] because it is one of the most exceptionally preserved bog bodies in the world. Upon excavation in 1952, it was moved to the Prehistoric Museum in Aarhus, where it underwent research and conservation. In 1955 the body went on display at the Moesgaard Museum near Aarhus, where it can still be seen today. Due to the preservation of the man's feet and hands, his fingerprints were successfully taken.[2]
Evidence
Grauballe Man was initially dated to the late 3rd century BC by analysing the stratigraphic layer of peat that his body was found in.[3] This date was subsequently confirmed by radiocarbon dating his liver, the results of which were published in 1955, giving a date of 321-261 BC.[4]
Life
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/61/Grauballe_Man_discovery.jpg/220px-Grauballe_Man_discovery.jpg)
Information about the Grauballe Man's life has been ascertained from his remains. His hands were smooth and did not show evidence of hard work, indicating that Grauballe Man was not employed in hard labour such as
Death
The corpse was not found with any artifacts or any evidence of clothing, indicating that when he died he was entirely
Discovery, preservation and exhibition
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/1/10/Grauballemannen3.jpg/220px-Grauballemannen3.jpg)
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/8/80/Grauballe_Man_reconstruction.jpg/150px-Grauballe_Man_reconstruction.jpg)
The Grauballe Man's body was first discovered buried in the bog on 26 April 1952 by a team of peat diggers. One of the workers, Tage Busk Sørensen, stuck his spade into something that he knew was not peat; upon revealing more, they discovered the head protruding from the ground, and the local postman, who was passing, alerted the local doctor as well as an amateur archaeologist named Ulrik Balslev. With the body still in the peat, various locals came to visit it the next day, one of whom accidentally stepped on its head. The following morning, Professor Peter Glob from the Prehistory Museum at Aarhus came to visit the body, and arranged for it to be moved to the museum, still encased in a block of surrounding peat.[13]
Glob and his team decided that they should not only research the body but that they should also attempt to preserve it so that it could be exhibited to the public. This concept was new at the time as most of the bog bodies previously discovered had been re-buried, sometimes in
The body then underwent research, including a
Modern culture
The Grauballe Man is the subject of the eponymous poem[16] in Seamus Heaney's 1975 poetry collection North, while the Tollund Man figures in his 1972 volume Wintering Out.
References
- ISBN 978-87-88415-29-2.
- ^ ISBN 0690043899.
- ISBN 978-87-88415-29-2.
- ISBN 978-87-88415-29-2.
- ISBN 978-87-88415-29-2.
- ISBN 978-87-88415-29-2.
- ISBN 978-87-88415-29-2.
- ISBN 978-87-88415-29-2.
- ISBN 978-87-88415-29-2.
- ^ Karen E. Lange, "Tales from the Bog", National Geographic, September 2007, retrieved 23-04-2009
- .
- ^ Baylie Corner; Megan Dicks; Jennifer Head; Joelle Ingram (2011). "Grauballe Man". Deviants and the Bog: the Bog Bodies of Northern Europe. Retrieved 27 April 2013.
- ISBN 978-87-88415-29-2.
- ISBN 978-87-88415-29-2.
- ^ Strehle, Helle (2007). Grauballe Man: An Iron Age Bog Body Rediscovered. Jutland Archaeological Society. Page 36-43.
- ^ "BBC NI - Schools - Poetry - Study Ireland - War - Page 2". BBC. 20 February 2015. Retrieved 18 August 2023.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- The Grauballe Man – a brief description at the homepage of the Moesgård Museum
- The Grauballe Man – a poem by Seamus Heaney at the homepage of BBC NI Schools
- National Geographic September 2007: "Tales From the Bog"
- Forensic Facial Reconstruction