Thread by @JacquelynGill

Old Croghan Man died a violent death over 2000 years ago: stabbed in the chest, decapitated, and severed at the torso. Tossed in a bog in Ireland, his remains were preserved until his discovery in 2003. His manicured nails suggest he led a life of leisure.

His nipples were cut off. Sucking a king’s nipples was an act of submission in Iron Age Ireland, so this insult may have been to prevent him from ruling. It’s thought he was killed in a ritual sacrifice, perhaps after poor weather or harvests. He was in his early 20’s.

Clonycavan Man was found in 2003, and is over 2000 years old. He was likely severed in two by a prat harvesting machine, but he also shows signs of being murdered, likely by ace wounds to the head, and he was also disembowelled.

Chemical analysis of Clonycavan Man’s hair found that his recent diet was rich in meat and vegetables, so he likely died in summer. His distinctive hair was worn in a topknot held up with a sort of gel made from a resin imported from France or Spain, suggesting he was wealthy.

*Clonycavan man was killed by blows from an axe, not “ace.”

These and other amazing bog mummies can be seen at the “Kingship and Sacrifice” exhibit at the @NMIreland’s Archaeology museum. Common themes are violent deaths and dismemberment in their early 20’s, and being buried in peat bogs on territorial borders.

When bodies are so well preserved like this, they come alive. It almost feels invasive, like you’re disturbing some sacred ritual. You realize that you’re looking at person, who walked in the sun and laughed and celebrated with friends, and whose heart raced in his final moments.

The museum exhibit is really thoughtful in its approach to displaying these remains. Each mummy is in a round chamber, and you spiral around and down to enter it. Inside is just the mummy: no signage, no screens. It’s contemplative, and almost holy.

Each mummy is in its own round chamber. You can’t see inside without entering, and you can’t breeze past or take in multiple bodies at a glance. Each requires a visitation, a paying of respects. The format discourages crowding.

If you’d like to learn more about bog mummies (how they’re preserved, why they had violent deaths), here’s a fun article:

m.nautil.us/issue/64/the-u…

Natural acids in the peat moss prevent bacteria from breaking down the body’s skin and organs. The bones are usually dissolved. The oldest bog body ever found is 8000 years old, from Denmark. The newest were soldiers killed in WWII in Russia.

*PEAT harvesting machine. Not prat. There are not machines rampaging Ireland and chomping up incompetent people.