--- In cybalist@..., "Alexander Stolbov" <astolbov@...> wrote:
> Well, I think "Vinding kisten" can be called a sarcophagus,
although it
> differs considerably from the Pazyryk one.
>
> > ... climatic and geological preservation conditions in Denmark ...
>
> I believed they are perfect for keeping for centuries organic
remains like
> leather, wood, even textiles due to very acid reaction of the
marshlands
> soils...
>
> Torsten, can you get any details about the Tollund man? He seems to
be
> killed ritually and the preservation of his head is as good as if
it had
> been kept in a jar with spiritus vini.
> Wasn't his head embalmed by chance?
>
> Alexander
>
>
Yes, his head was preserved by chance, AFAIK. There is much tannic
acid in the Jutland bogs, this is why organic material dumped there
is accidentally tanned as leather is. I haven't heard of any
deliberate attempt to embalm him, so that's the official standpoint.
But of course, what you don't look for, you don't find, so who knows?
The Sjaelland bogs are less acidic, so organic material perishes
there; on the other hand metal is preserved.
I was actually thinking on the preservation of things placed in a
flat field; there, outside of the protection of bog water, organic
stuff perishes easily in our climate. Contrary to what you might be
thinking (and many others, too) we have very little marshlands here,
outside of the North Friesian coast of North Schleswig and a few
places on the "South Sea Islands" (Lolland-Falster). I know Denmark
is all green on the map and looks like Holland, but no, sorry, small
hills everywhere. There hasn't even been much reclaiming of land. The
landscape here, apart from the coast line, looks very much like North
France, Southern England, North Germany, North Poland.
And I don't think that people who are found in the bogs have
been "buried" in the ordinary sense of the word. The alternative
theory, of course, is that they were criminals, but consider the
unpleasant scenario of an invasion, counter-invasion against the
Heruli etc. Who ends up in the bog then? Hm!
As for details, what exactly did you have in mind? W.r. to general
information, here is the museum where he is kept:
http://www.silkeborgmuseum.dk
and here is a Danish search engine:
http://soeg.sol.dk/
Torsten