The Paranormal Guide Presents: Ancient Death - Tollund Man

The Tollund Man is probably the most well-preserved body from pre-historic times in the world. 

Discovered in a peat bog in Denmark, this man, who they believe was sacrificed to the gods, has given modern day historians a rare glimpse into life in the early Iron Age.

Iron Age Life and Death

On 6 May, 1950, Viggo and Emil Hojgaard and their wives were cutting peat in the peat bog named Bjaeldskovdal in Denmark. One of the wives noticed a corpse in the peat layer. The corpse looked fresh, and with heavy hearts they believed they had found the remains of a young boy who had recently gone missing. They reported the find to the police.

Tollund Man on display in the Silkeborg Museum.

When the police arrived, they were quite surprised by the condition of the body. They attempted to identify a time of death, and were having trouble, so called in an archaeologist named Professor Glob. The Professor surprised everyone by proclaiming that the corpse was at least 2,000 years old, and appeared to be a victim of ritual sacrifice.

And so he was named the Tollund Man. His name was an obvious choice, as the family who found him came from the small village of Tollund, which was not far from the peat bog.

The side of his body which was turned downwards in the grave was incredibly well preserved. Only the side facing upwards showed signs of decomposition. It is believed that the body had shrunk throughout the decomposing stages, and as it was found, measured at 161 centimetres.

The only parts of his body which were pretty much ruined were his arms and his hands. They were skeletonized due to peat-digging. His feet were in perfect condition, as was one figure.

The face of Tollund Man.

His head was angelic in its preservation. His eyes and mouth were closed, and he looked to be sleeping. He had short hair which was covered by a pointed cap made of sheepskin, with two thin leather straps tying it to his head under his chin.

He had no clothing on his body, but a belt made out of thin pieces of leather was tied around his hips. The most telling sign of all though was the leather rope, tightened into a noose, which was secured around his neck.

This noose has intrigued the historians and archaeologists who have been studying the Tollund Man… the rope had left a furrow in the skin under his neck and chin, but not at the back of the neck. His tongue, inside his mouth, was also distended. It was decided that the Tollund had been hanged – although there were some inconsistencies with that as well, such as the fact that there was no vertebrae breakage as is common among hanging victims.

When the scientists removed his body, they found a very thin layer of moss underneath him which they recognised as being present in peat bogs in the early Iron Age… Tollund Man therefore was estimated to have died in 375 – 210 BC. What a remarkable discovery, and one which is believed to be the best preserved corpse from the Iron Age – especially considering the dead in that time were mostly cremated on funeral pyres. His age at the time of death was between 30 and 40 years – an old man by the standards of the time.

During an autopsy, scientist removed the alimentary canal, which consists of the stomach and intestines. They wanted to see if they could find out what the Iron Age people ate. The majority of the meal had passed into the intestines, which showed that he had eaten somewhere between 12 and 24 hours before he died. They found 40 different types of grains and seeds, and no traces of meat, fish or fruit/vegetable matter.

Reconstruction of the face.

There are no written records from the time period that the Tollund Man was alive in Denmark, so scientists do not know why he was killed. Perhaps he was a criminal and hanging was the punishment. Perhaps he was a sacrifice to a god. They do not know. The closest information is the written records of Cornelius Tacitus, a Roman who wrote down accounts he heard from people who traded with those in Northern Europe. 

Tacitus wrote: "They hang traitors and renegades in trees, cowards (yellow), combat evaders (afraid to go to war) and unnaturally immoral people they lower into filthy swamps and cover them with branches".

He also noted that in some tribes, human sacrifices were made to the gods.

Both of these are possibilities, but scientists tend to think that the second option is more likely, due to the care taken with placing him in the bog, in a sleeping position. Such care shows affection, not anger. It is also believed that his eyes were closed after death, another small gesture of affection. It is these small things which make it possible that Tollund Man was sacrificed to some forgotten god or gods.

If you’re ever in Denmark, head to the Silkeborg Museum, where you can find the Tollund Man’s remains.

Peet Banks 2014

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The Paranormal Guide Presents: Funeral homes, cemeteries, and hauntings

Funeral homes, cemeteries and hauntings

Have you ever had a paranormal experience while visiting, working at or (in the case of prior funeral homes and reclaimed cemetery land) living at one of these places built in the service of saying goodbye too and the remembrance of the dead?

Many people will share their stories of ghostly encounters in places such as cemeteries and graveyards, and you do come across quite harrowing tales that take place in ex funeral homes, but many people question such hauntings - why is there so much activity taking place at these locations when really they are just temporary holding places or a more permanent resting place for our physical remains?

Do we long for our lives after our deaths and as such do some energies try to cling to that large piece of their physical existence - their bodies?

Or is it the energies of those who come to see their deceased family members and/or friends, either in a funeral homes viewing room or at the graveside, and the emotional charge such times typically carry?

Or are there other things lurking in these places of the dead?

Or is it in peoples heads, a want to believe that their loved ones have carried on after death?

What about the discussion of places such as cemeteries, attaching a tag to them that will make them desirable for visitors… some not always savoury who leave headstones and memorials in ruins in the hopes of provoking a reaction from the dead?

As always have a go at this topic from any relevant angle you see fit (remember this is for places where the body goes AFTER it is dead), be it to share your experiences and/or to tackle some of the questions presented. Also Include mausoleums, crematoriums, graveyards etc in your answers... any place that deals with the processing and remembrance of the dead.

(This question was suggested by Cindy Sharp who had it cross her mind while watching a investigation show featuring a funeral home and its hauntings. If you have any general paranormal questions you would like to see covered on this page please inbox me. )

For all things paranormal, strange, dark and macabre check out The Paranormal Guide: www.facebook.com/theparanormalguide

The Paranormal Guide Presents: Paranormal Photos Fact or Fiction - Fanham Wood Mill Ghost

This photo, taken in early January, 1929, shows the top of the inner staircase at the Fanham Wood Mill in the United States. Builder, Robert Walsh, took the photo as he was renovating the stairs and he did not see, hear or feel anything out of the ordinary, though he believed his dog was acting a liitle strange at the time. 

Fact or Fiction? You Decide!

Cropped version of original image

An Old Photograph

Many people believe that this photo shows a woman on the staircase, hand on the railing. Her dress is quite easily discernible within the light.

When the photograph was taken in 1929, the photographer, Robert D. Walsh, did not feel anything or notice anything strange at the time. 

He took the photo as he was renovating the old inner staircase at the mill and needed something he could refer to while carrying out his work off site. However he did note that his dog was acting a little strangely in the vicinity of the staircase that afternoon.

Walsh and his dog were the only people on site that afternoon.

Work continued on the mill several weeks later but still nothing out of the ordinary was reported.

Contrast added to bring out the details

Like many older photos that make a claim for capturing the paranormal, this one has quite a few discrepancies, most major of which is the location it was taken. There seems to be a dispute of whether the Fanham Wood Mill (some places spelling it 'Farnham') is located in the United States or the United Kingdom. 

Whilst looking at many different sites that show this picture, most of them state that it is the US where this photo originates.

What do you think?

Does this photo show some sort of ghostly figure that explains Mr Walsh's dog acting strange?

Or is it somehow a light anomaly?

Or do you think it is a set up, a complete fake?

Something else entirely?

Fact or Fiction, you decide!

Check out The Paranormal Guide for more! 

Have You Experienced a Perfume Ghost/Phantom Smell? by The Paranormal Guide

Many people have reported strange scents/odours that do not seem to have a natural point of origin. Although there are many 'natural' reasons why a 'new' odour might present itself at a location, people who have experienced 'phantom smells' tend to have the opinion that they are ghostly/spiritual in origin.

The sense of smell is one of the senses most closely linked to memory and emotion. It is believed that an entity might express as a scent (knowingly or not) that unlocks in the mind of the witness a person, place, event or other specific memory. A lot of the time these scents will be a perfume or aftershave a passed loved one often wore, or the smell of their favorite brand of cigarettes/cigars etc. though not limited to these.

At other times a phantom smell might be incredibly noxious and unpleasant, and people often link these to negative entities.

Have you experienced a perfume ghost / phantom smell?
Did it remind you of someone, someplace or an event?
How long did it last for?
How did you feel?

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The Paranormal Guide Presents: Paranormal Photos - Fact or Fiction - The Back Seat Ghost

Visiting a cemetery in 1959, Mrs Mabel Chinnery took a photo of her husband, who was waiting alone in the car. Upon development, this image was found. Mrs Chinnery recognised the ghostly extra as her mother, whose grave they were visiting that day. 

An expert determined the image was not a double exposure or a reflection. Fact or Fiction? You Decide!

The photo in question. 

Mother is Watching ...

There really is not a whole lot more to be said about this photo. Mrs Chinnery had taken the camera along to the cemetery in order to get some photographs of her mothers grave when she turned around to take a shot of her husband who was sitting alone in the car.

The negative was later developed and no doubt to the Chinnery's surprise they found a ghostly extra sitting in the otherwise empty back seat. Mrs Chinnery immediately recognised the image as that of her mother whose grave was quite close to where the car was parked.

A close up of 'mother'.

A photography expert analysed the image and the film and determined there was no double exposure or odd reflections at play.

What do you think?

Was the ghost of Mrs Chinnery's mother captured on film that day in the cemetery?

Or maybe something else is at play here?

Fact or Fiction, you decide!

The Paranormal Guide Presents: World of the Paranormal - Casa de los Lamentos

La Llorona - The Weeping Woman by The Paranormal Guide

La Llorona is a legend about a beautiful woman who loses her children and is forever cursed to look for them.

She will take any child that vaguely resembles her own, and then drag them into the water in the hopes she may finally be admitted to what awaits us after death.

A Warning for Children 

Urban legends come in all different shapes and colours, with retellings of the same legend taking on new aspects, and in some cases the end result is quite different from circle to circle. La Llorona (The Weeping Woman) is the same as all others – there is a central core to the story that goes largely unchanged, while certain details have been embellished or just completely added to for better effect.

This particular legend is told in the southern parts of the United States, but mainly hails from Mexico and South America. It is told as a warning to children to be good, not venture far after dark or else they will meet their doom.

Anguish and Terror 

The legend begins with a beautiful woman by the name of Maria. Maria was well known due to her famous beauty, but she had a flaw - her vanity and need to be the focus of all attention. Maria ended up with her love, a rancher who was quite wealthy, and the two were married and had two children.

As time went on and the children began to be the focus of their fathers eye, Maria grew quite jealous. When the rancher began to completely ignore his wife, taking to long stays out in the fields around the house, Maria grew wild.

It was one evening, while walking out with her children that Maria realised what her husband was up to. They were walking along the path by a river when a horse drawn carriage came along side and stopped. There was Maria’s husband in the arms of another woman!

Rage and Despair

The husband turned around and spoke to his children but utterly ignored Maria. After the husband and his new lady had left, Maria flew into a rage and took her children to the rivers edge and drowned them. 

As the children’s struggles gave way to stillness, and their little bodies started to be carried away down stream, Maria instantly regretted what she had done. She dove into the water, but of course it was too late, the children were beyond saving.

Despair

Out of despair Maria took her own life down in that same river, no-one knows how she went about it, except that her drowned body was discovered on the river bank the following morning. Many believe that the husband may have come back to talk to Maria and, seeing what she had done, had killed her. Although accusatory words were quietly discussed, it was not right to point the finger until the bodies were interred into the ground.

The funeral was held and Maria was buried in a long white gown. However it was not even one night after the funeral had taken place when the cries were heard by the river...

"Where are my children? Where are my children?" were heard long into the night, and for many nights since. Those brave enough to search out the source will find Maria walking the river banks, attempting to find her children.

Stay Away From the Water at Night

Stay away from the water at night ... 

Locals say Maria’s spirit has been blocked from progressing to the afterlife until she can find her children… and this is where the danger lies. Children who wander down near water sources at night may run into La Llorona – the Weeping Woman - the name given to Maria. If they do, and they even slightly resemble her children, she will take them into the river in the hopes she will finally be able to move on.

Many missing children around Mexico and South America have been blamed on La Llorona.

As with any legend such as this details change over the years. Other versions have Maria and her love never marrying, yet having two children who are murdered when Maria continually presses for marriage. In this version La Llorona appears in a long, white, blood stained dress.

The legend of La Llorona has appeared in many movies and television series.

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Ghosts and Hauntings: Estcourt House by Paranormal Guide's Ashley Hall

 Estcourt House

- Ghosts and Hauntings

- Estcourt house is a mansion built in 1883, by Frederick Estcourt Bucknall, in Grange, South Australia. Bucknall was an Adelaide business man who arrived in Australia in 1860. He quickly became an affluent gentleman, then even more so after marrying into a large brewing company, and soon set his eyes on bigger things. Along with Arthur Harvey (M.P.), Bucknall established the townships on Grange and Henley Beach, before becoming mayor of Hindmarsh.

Bucknall also thought he needed a grand home, so he spent six thousand pounds building the seventeen room mansion ‘Estcourt House’. Unfortunately Bucknalls plans were too big and he soon went bankrupt in 1886, and had to sell his property. The bank had trouble selling the mansion but eventually it was sold to be a home for children.

This home started out with a small number of children, but that number quickly grew in the early 1900s as more and more came through the doors. It was not just children that would be cared for there, as the elderly were also looked after at times, and this acted as a prelude for the buildings later uses.

Estcourt house had a few different owners over the years but there was always sick and recovering children within it’s walls (the Adelaide Children’s Hospital owned it for just over two decades). However, in 1978, the South Australian Government bought the property and it became known as Ru Rua Nursing Home until it closed it’s doors in 1988/1989.

It is not easy to find deaths related to this building outside of what made it direct in the media (inquest notices, obituaries etc). Many children died of infectious diseases as did a few nurses who died from diseases not normally found in adults (or at least not too dangerous for them).

On July 1913, Thomas Clay a 'inmate’ at Estcourt house was killed by a train. The trains wheels had run the entire length of his body. Parts of his body were strewn along the tracks for quite a distance. Although a watch chain was attached to his vest no watch was ever found… this was made note of and at the time foul play was suggested.

There would have been many other deaths in the building, considering its purpose as a place for 'care’ over time. There is quite a lot more to the history of this location but you are probably wanting to know of any reported hauntings on site.

After 1989, the empty Estcourt House became a spot for thrill seekers and urban explorers. - the massive house proved an exciting spot for a midnight adventure. After a few incidences of the paranormal kind, it got a reputation for being haunted (though some staff of the house swear it was haunted when they were working there). People say it had a very dark, depressing feeling to it. Strange moving shapes have been seen in the shadows and the suffocating atmosphere was sometimes too much for people to handle.

I recently met someone who told me of their encounter in the empty Estcourt House. They had been along to one of the tours that went through there years ago, not a ghost tour or anything like that, more just a guided walkthrough to learn some history and take a look at the building. During the tour they did note that some rooms were skipped, that some doors remained closed and ignored. On enquiring about this the 'guide’ a former nurse / carer stated they never go into those areas.

No reason was given.

That same night two of the guests returned under cover of darkness and made their way into the building, as many had done before them. They went straight to the rooms that were off limits. On looking inside they can only assume they were not used to house beds or the sick but were probably more used as offices etc.

After walking through for a while they heard some strange noises coming from the larger areas of the buildings. Thinking it was other living people, they decided to leave, but on passing by these areas they noticed something strange – the entry they used to get in was now closed and the bolt had been slid shut… from the inside.

They opted not to leave through that same door and went back to the 'offices’ section where they found that door now closed and unable to be opened. After that they were frantic and left via a window. Looking back they feel it was something that did not want them there or at least did not want them in that one section of the building.

This is not the only story I have recieved from this location stating similar experiences.

(It should be noted that Estcourt House is now once again privately owned – a lot has changed and a lot has remained the same.)

By Ashley Hall - The Paranormal Guide 2012

Main Pic: Estcourt House circa 1900
Inset left: Children in the dorms about 1950 - 1960
Inset Right: Children and nurses on an outing at the Adelaide Zoo. Early days.

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