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Clonycavan Man
Associated to Place: AncientWorlds > Celtia > Eire > Leinster > Croghan Hill > articles -- by * Flidais Niafer (27 Articles), Social Article
A bog body found on the border of Meath and Westmeath 2003
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Subject: Bog Body a.k.a. "Clonycavan Man"
Investigator: Inspector Flidais Niafer

SCENE OF THE CRIME:

A male body was accidentally exhumed by a commercial peat harvesting machine in February 2003 on the border of the modern counties of Meath and Westmeath. The site was a significant location of tribal boundaries in ancient Ireland.

The body was so well preserved that detectives first thought he was a victim of an IRA murder from the 1970s.

Ned Kelly, keeper of Irish antiquities at the National Museum, suggested that the victim was an offering to fertility gods, a practice common among pre-Christian kings. According to Kelly, sometimes the sacrifices were political hostages. They were carefully placed on the borders of tribal boundaries "to ensure a good yield of corn and milk throughout the reign of the king."

According to early findings by Garda Technical Bureau, he was probably tortured before being murdered by three deadly blows of an axe.

ITEMS OF EVIDENCE:

A well-preserved torso and upper abdomen were found, with forearms, hands and lower half missing. Face and head were also well-preserved. The peat harvesting machine cut the body in half and removed the hands.

PICTORIAL VIEW:


The photograph shows a face with squashed nose, crooked teeth and a thin beard. The skull was shattered by several blows from a heavy, sharp-edged instrument - evidenced by a deep wound to the back of the skull and top of the head. Also a large scar from a sharp cut across the nose to below the right eye, probably by same weapon. One side of the head is shaved, probably just before his death. From the angle of the blows, the victim may have been kneeling in front of his killer when slain.

The hair was in a mohawk or what Tacitus described as a Swabian knot, a hairstyle favored by Celtic warriors where the hair was pulled back into a bun on top of the head. Clonycavan Man's hair was carefully arranged into a similar style, wrapped with a hair tie and stiffened with gel. The hairstyle is evidence that the victim was a member of the upper/warrior social class.

This is how he might have looked in life.


LAB PROCESS:

Radiocarbon dating shows death occurred between 392 and 201 BC (Iron Age Ireland) and that the body is 2300 years old.

Study of hair shows that the victim enjoyed a good diet, rich in vegetables, mainly fruit and berries, before his death. The body is a male in his early 20's and probably a member of the upper class. Analysis of the hair gel resulted in defining the ingredients as a mixture of plant oil and pine resin from southwestern France or Spain. This supports the evidence that he was a member of the Celtic upper class, to have been wealthy enough to afford such cosmetics.

Further examination of his wounds found bits of brain on remnants of his shattered skull, attesting to the violence of his death by three blows to the back, top and front of the head by a heavy, sharp edged instrument, probably a large axe. He also received an axe blow to the chest and was disemboweled.

 REFERENCES:
Bog Body photo: National Geographic News online
Reconstructed face courtesy of news.scotsman.com, Jan. 16, 2006
Wikipedia
BBC News

 Courtyard
Posted Oct 19, 2007 - 11:38 , Last Edited: Nov 13, 2007 - 12:27











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