Bog body from Tumbeagh

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The bog body of Tumbeagh is a bog body , which in 1998 in Moor Tumbeagh Bog between the towns of Clara and Ferbane in County Offaly in Ireland was found. This find is the only case so far in which a bog body was discovered by archaeologists during a planned investigation; all other European bog finds were accidental discoveries by laypeople, for which the experts were often only called in much later.

Finding circumstances

A team from the University of Dublin's Archaeological Institute conducted surveying work on a recently excavated area of ​​Tumbeagh Bogs in mid-September 1998. Institute employee Cathy Moore discovered some leather-like scraps on the freshly peeled peat layer, which she initially took to be the remains of a leather container , but which soon turned out to be damaged skin and crumbs of body fat . An initial test showed that there was further skeletal material on the peat surface in the area . After consultation with the Irish Monuments Service , the Irish National Museum , the Archaeological Institute of the University of Dublin and Bord na Móna , it was decided to initiate a comprehensive investigation of all aspects of the find. The excavation was documented on film and numerous peat samples were taken, which were examined in detail by pollen analysis , as well as for small animals and plant remains. The human remains were isolated in a block of peat , recovered as a whole in the block in a wooden frame , transferred to the National Museum of Ireland and frozen. In the vicinity of the site, in close cooperation with Dr. Máire Delaney of Trinity College in Dublin carried out further excavations, including other pieces of skin and a rib were recovered. The investigation of the spoil dump revealed other fragments of the skin, a lumbar vertebra , the left kneecap and parts of the left and right tibia . The discovery of these scattered bones indicated that the site was completely disturbed . A number of artifacts have been found in the adjacent bog , including a log. Further investigation with metal sensors led to the discovery of four tiny strips of decomposed metal from the bog . Three were found near the bog body itself, the fourth five meters away.
Location: 53 ° 18 ′ 53.5 ″  N , 7 ° 45 ′ 58.9 ″  W Coordinates: 53 ° 18 ′ 53.5 ″  N , 7 ° 45 ′ 58.9 ″  W

Dating

A 14 C examination of two hair, two peat and two wood samples using accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) from the find complex revealed a broad dating spectrum. A pretreated peat sample in the 13th century, a pretreated skin sample in the early 16th century and a pretreated wood sample in the 14th / 15th century. Dated century. The second untreated skin sample was dated to the 12th / 13th century, the second untreated peat sample to the 12th and an untreated wood sample to the 16th century. The deviations result from contamination of the samples by penetrated moor substances or preservatives. An attempt was made to neutralize these impurities and deviations by pretreating some of the samples.

literature

  • Nóra Bermingham, Máire Delaney: The bog body from Tumbeagh . Wordwell Books, Wicklow 2005, ISBN 978-1-869857-77-6 (English).

Web links

  • Nóra Bermingham: Tumbeagh Bog, Tumbeagh. In: excavations.ie. Environment and Heritage Service, accessed December 7, 2011 (find description).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ http://www.excavations.ie/Pages/Details.php?Year=&County=Offaly&id=1482
  2. ↑ Johannes van der Plicht, Wijnand van der Sanden , AT Aerts, HJ Streurman: Dating bog bodies by means of 14 C-AMS . In: Journal of Archaeological Science . tape 31 , no. 4 , 2004, ISSN  0305-4403 , p. 471–491 , doi : 10.1016 / j.jas.2003.09.012 (English, ub.rug.nl [PDF; 388 kB ; accessed on June 2, 2010]).
personal data
SURNAME Bog body from Tumbeagh
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Bog corpse
DATE OF BIRTH uncertain: between 11th century and 13th century
DATE OF DEATH uncertain: 12th century or 13th century
Place of death at Clara (Ireland)