Thursday June 7th Silkeborg and Tollund Man

One of the musts for a visit in Denmark is Tollund Man. Silkeborg, where he is to be found, is but 25 miles from Aarhus so a day trip was organised. Given the importance of the remains and the fact that the museum is a UNESCO World Heritage Site is a bit of a shock to discover that the museum is less than one might expect. The buildings look indeed of some form of renovation, the entrance is rather less than imposing, the parking and other aspects of the site were, perhaps, somewhat limited. Only one man ran the museum when we were there and there was no café open for anyone. Mind you, there were only 5 visitors so there was very little pressure on facilities.

Tollund Man is the mortal remains of a male who, after being hung, was left in a bog. The museum guide states that, and with no sense of irony, his "well-preserved face is of world stature among bog bodies." No one knows why he was hung nor why he ended in the bog. It may have been some form of religious rite. Whatever, the fact that his body survived more or less intact was something of luck and chance.

The display is distinctly old fashioned. The room is dark, and it is not easy to see the remains. They are remarkable, so well preserved that one can observe details of the shape of his body. Rather less seems to be made of the female who has also been found although because of clumsiness and other issues rather less of her is to be seen. She is called Elling Woman and lived at roughly the same time as Tollund. However, her remains have been as valuable to archaeologists as the male in enabling them to develop a fuller portrait and explanation of the life of these ancestors some 2,300 years ago.

So, after this visit into our long past ancestors, I took us on one of those wishful trips ending in nothing. In other words, the site was closed! I do wish publishers of tourist magazines would always include opening times so that we, the tourist, does not have a wasted journey.

Pleasant drive through the countryside and back to the campsite.

One feature of where we are camped is the is problem it creates for some others. Once parked, up goes their TV satellite dish. It turns circles, it elevates by several degrees and rotates again. It shuts down - no signal!

As I have observed before, there are very few English people to be seen. So, it was a surprise to be greeted by English one evening. Actually, they were from NZ but they sure wanted to chat. Four people on a trip to find ancestors - UK and Swedish.