2,000 year old human torso of an Irish man that was found in a bog back in June of 2003.
The remains were naturally mummified and preserved so well that scientists were able to even determine his last meal after analyzing the contents of his stomach: wheat and buttermilk. For at least 4 months prior to his death, he was shown to have a meat rich diet. Based on the length of his arms, he was estimated to have been 6 ft 6 inches (1.98 m) tall which would have been extremely tall for that time period.
The man also had manicured nails which has led to speculation that he was not engaged in manual labor and was someone of high status. His body is currently on display at the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin.
His death
The man was buried at a bog (likely once a lake) at the foot of an ancient hill that was used for kingship ceremonies. A 2014 documentary suggested that he was a king or prince who was sacrificed by druids due to poor weather or harvests. These ancient tribes may have believed that this was caused by the failure of the king and he was responsible.[5]
Oldcroghan Man is believed to have died between 362 BC and 175 BC, making the body over 2,000 years old. Evidence indicates that the man was in his early twenties when he was killed. He was naked except for a plaited leather band around his left arm. This likely indicated high status.The man is believed to have died from a stab wound to the chest. He was decapitated and had his body cut in half. He also has an injury to one arm, possible evidence that he tried to defend himself.[8] A similar wound has been seen on the Cashel Man, who was found in 2011, also in Ireland.
The body was found to have deep cuts under each nipple. Several theories have been suggested to explain this, including that the damage was caused (after death) by conditions in the bog, that the cuts were indicative of torture while the man was alive, or that the nipples were deliberately mutilated (either before or after death) for symbolic purposes. The latter theory, put forward by Eamonn Kelly of the National Museum of Ireland, suggests that the mutilation was a symbolic gesture to mark the man as a rejected ruler.Other theories suggest that Oldcroghan Man and other bog bodies were sacrifices to gods of fertility or harvest, and killed and buried to ensure good yields of cereals and buttermilk.
Declan -I remember a brilliant documentary about this.He was dismembered and buried face down, with stakes through his harms, so that he would face Hades forever, the film proposed – a fate reserved only for one guilty of the most heinous of crimes, such as the killing of a child perhaps.
Tyrone – They obviously hated this guy. Maybe he was a dictatorial leader or something like that.
