Not for the fainthearted ;) Bog Bodies: Ritual violent human sacrifice...... 2,000 to 5,000 years of preserved human remains. Irish bog lands are thousands of years old that have preserved the bodies of many victims of violent ritual, human sacrifice. From a Celtic point of view, the most interesting bodies are those that are two thousand or more years old, many of which appear to have been deliberate sacrifices, willing or unwilling, for ritual purposes. Because of the preservative qualities of the bog, tissues, even soft organ tissue, stomach contents, hair, nails, and clothing are frequently preserved well enough for forensic analysis. Typically the stomach contents and traces of pollens, teeth and nails can be used to provide information about diet, health, age, and the time of year and location of the body when the person died. The bog body known as the Cashel Man, now being researched at the National Museum of Ireland, is likely that of a king who met his end in a violent sacrifice. Found in a bog in County Laois in 2011, the Cashel Man is the oldest found bog body. From the early Bronze Age, about 4,000 years ago, he is believed to be the oldest bog body anywhere in the world. He was found between territories and within sight of a hill where he may have been crowned king. Cashel Man suffered violent injuries to his back and a sword or axe wound on his arm, but this level of violence is not unusual for bog bodies. Keeper of Irish Antiquities, Eamonn Kelly, who has worked on all the major bog body finds, theorizes that the bog bodies died violent deaths as a form of sacrifice. When an Irish king was inaugurated, he was inaugurated in a wedding to the goddess of the land. It was his role to ensure through his marriage to the goddess that the cattle will be protected from plague and the people will be protected from disease. If a plague or disease occurred, the king would be held personally responsible and consequently sacrificed. Many bog bodies were the bodies of kings who had been decommissioned and sacrificed. As part of that decommissioning, their nipples were mutilated. In the Irish tradition they could no longer serve as king if their bodies were mutilated in this way. This is a decommissioning of the king in this life and the next. Typically the head, neck and chest are targeted in a sacrifice. In 2003 two more bodies were found in Irish bogs, both male, both about from about 2,300 years ago, and both showing signs of ritual sacrifice. The first body, called Clonycavan man, was found in a bog near Dublin. The forearms, hands and lower abdomen are missing. He was a young man, perhaps in his twenties, and no more than 5ft 2in tall (1.6m). His skull was smashed by a heavy edged implement. Croghan man was also young, but much taller. The lengths of his arms suggest that he would have stood around 6ft 6in tall. He seems to have been tortured before he died. His nipples had been cut and he had been stabbed in the ribs. A cut on his arm suggests that he tried to defend himself during the attack that ended his life, perhaps an indication that his was an unwilling sacrifice. After death his head was severed, and his body dismembered. Hazel ropes were passed through his arms before he was buried in the bog.
Posted on: Tue, 12 Aug 2014 20:21:53 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015