A mummified body uncovered in Laois has been dated from 2000 BC the oldest bog body ever discovered.
Cúl na Móna bog at Cashel, County Laois, preserved the remains of a member of Ireland’s Early Bronze Age nobility for four thousand years.
Discovered by a Bord na Móna worker milling peat in 2011, the site where the body was discovered was measured and examined by archaeologists before being taken away for further examination and tests.
Keeper of Irish Antiquities at the National Museum of Ireland Eamonn Kelly explains how they determined when this man lived and died,
We’ve actually taken a sample of the body itself, we’ve taken a sample of a wooden stake that was used to mark the position of the body, and we’ve taken a sample of the actual peat on which the body was lying, and we’ve used two separate laboratories to get our dates, and all of the dates have come back at 2000 BC.
Experts believe that this young king was a human sacrifice, and his violent end meant that he had most likely failed his people in some way.
An RTÉ News report broadcast on 2 August 2013. The reporter is John Burke.
