The Archaeology of Violence: Interdisciplinary Approaches

Chapter Twelve: An Archaeological Interpretation of Irish Iron Age Bog Bodies

232 Abstract In 2003, the discovery in Irish peat bogs of two well-preserved Iron Age bodies provided an opportunity to undertake detailed scientific analysis with a view to understanding how, when, and why the two young male victims were killed and their bodies consigned to the bogs. Research also looked at other Iron Age objects deposited ritually in peat bogs, including other bog bodies. The locations at which the bodies were discovered were researched and a wealth of historical, folklore, and mythological material was consulted to assist interpretation of the finds. A theory was developed that appears to explain not only the ritual killings in question but also the deposition of bog bodies and other objects in peat bogs in proximity to significant territorial boundaries. The theory links the bog bodies with kingship and sovereignty rituals during the Iron Age. At the end of the last Ice Age, melt water from retreating ice sheets left the Central Plain of Ireland strewn with shallow lakes that, in time, developed into large expanses of raised bog. Following the removal of most of the country’s woodlands in the seventeenth century, peat from the bogs became an important source of fuel and over the next few centuries, peat cutters encountered many archaeological objects lost in the bogs or deposited deliberately in former times. Bog finds have included weapons, personal ornaments, horse harness, yokes, ploughs, quern stones, feasting equipment, large lumps of butter, and occasionally human remains. A number of these are on display at the National Museum of Ireland, Dublin. Bog bodies are rare survivals from earlier times. While many survive merely as skeletons, the preservative properties of bogs means that in exceptional cases the bodies are in spectacular condition with hair, skin, hands, internal organs, and other soft tissue preserved (Turner and Scaife 1995). Such discoveries make it possible literally to come face-to-face with a person who lived millennia ago and to view their features, see how they Chapter Twelve An Archaeological Interpretation of Irish Iron Age Bog Bodies Eamonn P. Kelly An Archaeological Interpretation of Irish Iron Age Bog Bodies 233 styled their hair, and wore their clothing. It is also possible to find out what they ate; what diseases they may have suffered in life; and the manner of their deaths. The remains of more than 100 men, women, and children, dating to a variety of periods, have been found in Irish bogs, representing accidental deaths as well as formal interment and more casual disposal. Finds of Iron Age date are of a rather more sinister nature and what characterizes them and sets them apart from other bog bodies is the fact that they represent ritual killings. Similar finds elsewhere demonstrate that the Irish Iron Age finds form part of a broader Northwestern European cultural tradition, with well-known examples fromTollund, Denmark (Glob 1969), Lindow Moss, England (Stead et al. 1986), and Yde, Holland (van der Sanden 1996). Tacitus (Germania XII) notes how victims of execution were staked down in bogs, with no mention made of sacrificial ritual (Green 1998:179). However, the Irish evidence clearly favors the interpretation that the victims were the subjects of ritual killings, not execution. Despite the numbers of bog bodies found in Ireland, the discovery of well-preserved ancient remains is a relatively rare occurrence, so it was with considerable surprise that the National Museum learned in the spring and early summer of 2003 of two remarkable new discoveries. This paper provides an overview of the detailed investigations into these two individuals as well as other recent Irish bog body finds from other periods. A detailed analysis is being prepared as part of a larger review of all the dated Irish Iron Age bog bodies and their European background. (Working title: The Irish Bog Bodies Project, edited by E. P. Kelly and I. Mulhall, Forthcoming). In the debris of a peat-screening machine at peat extraction works in Ballivor (Co. Meath) workers discovered the preserved body of a young man (Figure 12.1). Investigation indicated that the body had lain originally in a deep bog at Clonycavan on the figure 12.1 Clonycavan Man, Co. Meath found in the debris of a peat-screening machine in February 2003. 234 Sanctified Violence county border between Meath and Westmeath. Although damaged from the waist down due to the action of a peat-harvesting machine, the internal organs were preserved partially. The...