Archaeology · Denmark

Tollund Man: A Porridge Reconsidered

Barley, flax and the probable fish that changed an old account

A bowl of porridge can leave more evidence than its cook could ever have expected. The food identified in Tollund Man’s gut included barley, pale persicaria and flax, with probable fish alongside that plant-based picture. The 2021 analysis places the meal roughly 12–24 hours before his death. This is an encounter with food that was eaten, approached through fragments and molecules rather than a surviving menu. Nielsen and colleagues, Antiquity.

Plain barley-and-flax porridge in a simple clay bowl beside a clay cooking pot and a restrained dark hearth setting; no people, human remains, wild-foraging instruction or readable document — Imagined illustration of a plain grain porridge in a clay vessel, inspired by the archaeological food evidence. It is not an image of Tollund Man, his remains or a verified historical setting.

12–24 hoursEstimated interval between the meal and death

Probably fishThe research conclusion retains its uncertainty

An earlier answer gains another ingredient

Tollund Man was discovered in Denmark in 1950. Investigators examined his digestive contents then, and the first account found no meat in the meal. Decades later, protein analysis added evidence for fish. Museum Silkeborg explains that the fish could have been in the porridge or eaten beside it. That small uncertainty changes how a modern cook should approach the plate: the evidence allows fish, but does not specify a fish stew. Museum Silkeborg’s research account.

A few millilitres, many kinds of evidence

The team returned to the material in 2019–2020. Aarhus University describes samples from the large intestine examined for plant remains, pollen, proteins and fats. The aim included understanding the ingredients and the unusual presence of seeds associated with grain-cleaning waste. Pale persicaria grew among crops; its small seeds could remain after threshing and sieving. Whether their inclusion belonged to ordinary cooking or a special ritual remains unresolved. The meal does not, by itself, settle why this man died. Aarhus University, participating researchers.

A grain is not a written recipe

The museum presents estimated original quantities for the principal plant ingredients: 335 g barley, 29 g pale persicaria and 16 g flax. Those numbers are an archaeological reconstruction from degraded material, not instructions preserved by an Iron Age cook. The museum also describes charred food crusts comparable to deposits inside clay vessels. A meal can therefore leave traces of both its ingredients and its contact with a cooking pot. Museum Silkeborg.

We should resist making the picture tidier than that. A recovered seed cannot tell us who stirred the pot. Probable fish does not identify a species. The paper’s cautious language belongs in the story even when a new recipe needs definite ingredients.

Put the familiar ingredients to work

Our companion bowl uses commercially sold pearl barley and ground food-grade flaxseed, with a small white-fish fillet cooked separately. Pearling, the fish choice, the quantities, salt and stovetop method are modern decisions. Pale persicaria and other wild seeds are omitted, and drinking water replaces any historical uncertainty about the water supply. There is no foraging instruction or attempt to recreate contaminants.

The grain needs time to soften; the fish needs only a short, measured cooking stage near the end. Ground flax thickens the final simmer and adds small brown flecks without an elaborate topping. Serving the fish beside the porridge leaves both textures distinct. It also keeps the separation between evidence and recipe visible: we can cook a useful supper from two documented plant ingredients and a probable animal food without pretending to recover an exact ancient bowl.

The modern companion recipe

Barley-Flax Porridge with Gently Cooked White Fish

Pearl barley becomes a soft savory porridge while ground flax thickens its last simmer. The fish is a separately cooked modern choice prompted by the study’s probable fish evidence. Neither cod nor this measured cooking method is identified by the archaeological meal.

Read the full recipe →

Cook the recipes

Complete modern recipes inspired by the foods in this story. Each recipe explains the connection and the choices made for a home kitchen.

Famous Last Meals / Modern companion recipe

Barley-Flax Porridge with Gently Cooked White Fish

2 modest supper bowls, each with half the barley-flax porridge and one small fish filletActive 25 minTotal 80 min

Read Tollund Man: A Porridge Reconsidered →

Print recipe · PDF

Two shallow modern cream bowls of soft pale-tan pearl-barley porridge flecked with fine brown ground flax, each beside one small fully cooked opaque white fish fillet; no garnish, vegetables, lemon, sauce or wild seeds.

Ingredients

½ cup dry pearl barley (100 g/3½ oz), food-grade, with an approximately 40–50-minute packet simmer
2½ cups safe drinking water (600 ml) for barley, plus up to ¼ cup (60 ml) hot drinking water if needed
2 tablespoons commercially sold ground food-grade flaxseed (15 g/½ oz), suitable for cooking; follow any longer heating instruction on its label
¼ teaspoon fine salt (1.5 g), divided
2 plain boneless skinless cod or haddock fillets, about ¾ in/2 cm thick (4¼ oz/120 g each; 240 g total), fully thawed in the refrigerator if frozen
1 teaspoon neutral cooking oil (5 ml), for the fish pan
¼ cup safe drinking water (60 ml), for the fish pan

Set out

Stovetop with 2 burners, Heavy saucepan with lid, at least 2 qt/1.9 L, Fine-mesh sieve, 10-in/25-cm skillet with lid, Wooden spoon, Thin-probe food thermometer, Fish spatula and clean cooked-fish plate, Kitchen scale and measuring jug, Clean shallow refrigerator containers

Allergens

Fish; Barley; contains gluten. Barley is not gluten-free. Check actual grain, flax and oil labels for additional allergens and cross-contact statements.

Make it

Read the barley and flax labels. This clock uses pearl barley requiring about 40–50 minutes; a different grain or longer packet instruction extends the total. Rinse the barley if its packet directs. Put it in the saucepan with 600 ml water and half the salt. Bring to a boil, reduce to a gentle simmer and cover with the lid slightly ajar.
Simmer 35–40 minutes, stirring occasionally and checking the bottom. If the pan is drying before the kernels soften, add hot water from the measured 60 ml allowance a tablespoon at a time. The barley must be tender through the center rather than just swollen outside. Continue for its full packet time if longer.
Stir in all the ground flax. Simmer gently for at least 10 minutes, stirring often, or for the flax label’s longer required cooking time. Add only enough of the remaining hot-water allowance to retain a soft, spoonable porridge. The flax should be dispersed, not left as a dry powder topping.
During the final grain stage, check the thawed fish for bones and remove any. Do not rinse raw fish. Keep its board and utensils away from finished food. Heat oil in the skillet over medium heat, lay the fillets separately in one layer and season with the remaining salt. Add the separate 60 ml water around them, cover and reduce to a gentle simmer.
Cook fish about 8–12 minutes, keeping the pan from boiling dry, until the thickest center of each fillet reaches at least 145°F/63°C and the flesh is opaque and separates easily. Time varies with thickness. Check from the side without touching the pan; continue cooking if below the endpoint. Use a clean spatula for the cooked fish.
Divide all the hot barley-flax porridge between 2 bowls. Add one cooked fillet beside each portion, leaving excess pan liquid behind. Serve promptly. No unlisted wild seeds, herbs, butter or sauce are included.

A useful detail

The 80-minute total allows measuring, heating, up to 50 minutes for pearl barley plus the final flax simmer, with fish cooked alongside near the end. Grain and flax product instructions take precedence and may extend the clock. The meal deliberately uses safe drinking water and commercially sold ingredients rather than attempting an archaeological reconstruction.

Keep it well

Cool leftover grain and fish promptly in separate shallow containers and refrigerate within 2 hours, or 1 hour above 90°F/32°C, at 40°F/4°C or below. Use within 2 days or an earlier fish-label deadline. Reheat only the portion needed to 165°F/74°C throughout, stirring a little measured water into the porridge. Do not leave a deep grain pot cooling on the counter.

How this recipe relates to the story

Barley and flax are identified food remains; fish is probable. Pearl barley, ground food-grade flax, cod/haddock, measured portions, oil, salt and safe modern stovetop handling are this original adaptation. No wild seeds, historical water sources or contaminants are recreated.

Another way

Use the same 240 g thawed plain haddock instead of cod, retaining the full 145°F/63°C fish endpoint. Neither species is claimed as the archaeological fish.
Serve the porridge alone as 2 grain sides if omitting fish; identify that changed serving role rather than presenting the smaller dish as the same full supper.

Sources for this story

The last meal of Tollund Man: new analyses of his gut content · Antiquity 95 (383), 1195–1212
Research reveals recipe of Tollund man’s last meal · Aarhus University, participating research institute
Nyt om Tollundmandens sidste måltid · Museum Silkeborg, lead research institution