Clonycavan Man | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Died | 392 –201 BC |
| Body discovered | March 2003 |
| Resting place | Dublin, County Dublin, Ireland |
Clonycavan Man is the name given to a well-preserved Iron Age bog body found in Clonycavan, Ballivor, County Meath, Ireland in March 2003. The body shows signs of having been murdered. Theories around the meanings and manner of his death vary.
Only Clonycavan Man's head and torso are preserved. He was found in a modern peat harvesting machine, which was possibly responsible for the severing of his lower body. [1]
Scientific study of Clonycavan Man's hair has shed light on his diet leading up to his death. His diet was rich in vegetables and proteins, which indicates that he may have been killed during the warmer summer months of the year. [1] [2] Clonycavan Man was also fairly young at the time of his death; he is believed to have been in his early twenties. [1]
The most distinguishing feature of the man was his hairstyle, which was raised upon his head with the help of a "hair gel" [3] of plant oil and pine resin, imported from south-western France or Northern Spain. [4] [2] Remnants of a hair tie was also found on the corpse. [2] This may attest to trade between Ireland and southern Europe in the fourth and third centuries BCE, before Roman influence was brought to bear on the Celts of Iberia. This could also suggest that he was wealthy, as few others would have been able to buy imported cosmetics. [5] The hairstyle was possibly a way to make the man appear taller, as examination of his remains suggests that he was only five feet two inches tall (157.48 cm). [2]
He had a squashed nose and crooked teeth. Pores are visible on the nose, and he had a thin beard.
Clonycavan Man is believed to have been murdered, based on an examination of the evidence found on his body by the Garda Technical Bureau (Irish Police Forensic Division). His skull looks to have been split open by a sharp implement. There is a deep wound on the top of his head, and parts of his brain have been found in this wound. There is also a large laceration across the bridge of his nose leading under his right eye. This is believed to be the blow that killed him. [2] Both injuries seem to have been caused by the same sharp implement, most likely an axe. He was also disembowelled. [6]
The reasons for his killing are unknown, but it is theorized by some that he was a ritual sacrifice of some type. [2] His nipples and other body parts that consist of fragile tissue were missing, which could be from natural decomposition, or possibly mutilation. [6] A hill that could possibly have been used for kingship ceremonies was near the bog where Clonycavan Man was found, leading to further speculation about the body. [2]
Radiocarbon dating has placed his death to between 392 BC and 201 BC, [3] during the Iron Age of western Europe, making his remains around 2,300 years old.
Clonycavan Man is part of an exhibit in the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin - and featured in the exhibition "Kingship and Sacrifice", 2006-2007.
Lindow Man, also known as Lindow II and as Pete Marsh, is the preserved bog body of a man discovered in a peat bog at Lindow Moss near Wilmslow in Cheshire, North West England. The remains were found on 1 August 1984 by commercial peat cutters. Lindow Man is not the only bog body to have been found in the moss; Lindow Woman was discovered the year before, and other body parts have also been recovered. The find was described as "one of the most significant archaeological discoveries of the 1980s" and caused a media sensation. It helped invigorate study of British bog bodies, which had previously been neglected.
The Tollund Man is a naturally mummified corpse of a man who lived during the 5th century BC, during the period characterised in Scandinavia as the Pre-Roman Iron Age. He was found in 1950, preserved as a bog body, near Silkeborg on the Jutland peninsula in Denmark. The man's physical features were so well preserved that he was mistaken for a recent murder victim. Twelve years before his discovery, another bog body, Elling Woman, was found in the same bog.
A bog body is a human cadaver that has been naturally mummified in a peat bog. Such bodies, sometimes known as bog people, are both geographically and chronologically widespread, having been dated to between 8000 BCE and the Second World War. The unifying factor of the bog bodies is that they have been found in peat and are partially preserved; however, the actual levels of preservation vary widely from perfectly preserved to mere skeletons.
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The mohawk is a hairstyle in which, in the most common variety, both sides of the head are shaven, leaving a strip of noticeably longer hair in the center. Mohawk hairstyles have existed for thousands of years. As of the 21st century, they are most commonly associated with punks, or broader non-conformity.
Hair gel is a hairstyling product that is used to harden hair into a particular hairstyle.
Oldcroghan Man is a well-preserved Irish Iron Age bog body found in June 2003. The remains are named after Croghan Hill, north of Daingean, County Offaly, near where the body was found. The find is on display in the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin. Oldcroghan Man was found three months after a similar find, dubbed Clonycavan Man, in County Meath.
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Lindow Woman and Lindow I are the names given to the partial remains of a female bog body, discovered in a peat bog at Lindow Moss, near Wilmslow in Cheshire, England, on 13 May 1983 by commercial peat-cutters. The remains were largely a skull fragment, which was missing its jaw, but with soft tissue and hair attached. The remains were subsequently dated to the Roman period. The remains became more technically known as Lindow I after the discovery of other remains in the same bog, which were identified as Lindow Man or Lindow II in 1984 and Lindow III in 1987.
The Haraldskær Woman is the name given to a bog body of a woman preserved in a bog in Jutland, Denmark, and dating from about 490 BC. Workers found the body in 1835 while excavating peat on the Haraldskær Estate. The anaerobic conditions and acids of the peat bog contributed to the body's excellent preservation. Not only was the intact skeleton found, but so were the skin and internal organs. Scientists settled disputes about the age and identity of this well preserved body in 1977, when radiocarbon dating determined conclusively that the woman's death occurred around the 5th century BC.
The prehistory of Ireland has been pieced together from archaeological evidence, which has grown at an increasing rate over the last decades. It begins with the first evidence of permanent human residence in Ireland around 10,500 BC and finishes with the start of the historical record around 400 AD. Both the beginning and end dates of the period are later than for much of Europe and all of the Near East. The prehistoric period covers the Palaeolithic, Mesolithic, Neolithic, Bronze Age and Iron Age societies of Ireland. For much of Europe, the historical record begins when the Romans invaded; as Ireland was not invaded by the Romans its historical record starts later, with the coming of Christianity.
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Osterby Man or the Osterby Head is a bog body of which only the skull and hair survived. It was discovered in 1948 by peat cutters to the southeast of Osterby, Germany. The hair is tied in a Suebian knot. The head is at the State Archaeological Museum at Gottorf Castle in Schleswig, Schleswig-Holstein.
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Gallagh Man is the name given to a preserved Iron Age bog body found in County Galway, Ireland, in 1821. The remains date to c. 470–120 BC, and are of a six-foot (1.8 m) tall, healthy male with dark and reddish hair, who is estimated to have been about 25 years old at the time of death. The presence of a withy hoop – rope made from twisted willow twigs – found wrapped around his throat indicates that he was strangled during a ritual killing or executed as a criminal.
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53°31′29″N7°0′26″W / 53.52472°N 7.00722°W [7]