Anthropology
Related: About this forumLaois ‘bog body’ said to be world’s oldest (Ireland)
Radiocarbon dating has revealed that the remains are much older than scientists initially thought.
http://www.irishtimes.com/news/ireland/irish-news/laois-bog-body-said-to-be-world-s-oldest-1.1483171
Laois bog body said to be worlds oldest
4,000-year-old remains were discovered on Bord na Móna land in Co Laois in 2011
Friday, Aug. 2, 2013
The mummified remains of a body found in a Laois bog two years ago have been found to date back to 2,000BC, making it the oldest bog body discovered anywhere in the world.
The 4,000-year-old remains, which predate the famed Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun by nearly 700 years, are those of a young adult male.
He is believed to have met a violent death in some sort of ritual sacrifice.
The body was unearthed in the Cúl na Móna bog in Cashel in 2011 by a Bord na Móna worker operating a milling machine....
MORE at link posted above.
Judi Lynn
(160,217 posts)Judi Lynn
(160,217 posts)Oldest 'Bog Body' Found with Skin Intact
Aug 20, 2013 10:00 AM ET // by Laura Poppick, LiveScience
Archaeologists have unearthed the remains of a 4,000-year-old man preserved in an Irish peat bog, marking the oldest European body ever found with skin still intact.
The cool, waterlogged conditions of Northern European bogs (a type of wetland) create low-oxygen, highly acidic environments ideal for body preservation. As a result, hundreds of "bog bodies" dating back thousands of years have been uncovered in the region, but many have shriveled down to mostly skeletons and tend to be closer to 2,000 years old.
A resident of central Ireland's County Laois came across the well-preserved "Cashel Man" -- named for the bog he was found in -- while milling for peat moss, which is used for a variety of farm purposes, including animal-bedding and field conditioning. (See Images of Cashel Man & Other Bog Bodies)
Having realized that he had come across a human body, the resident notified archaeologists at the National Museum of Ireland, who later conducted a formal excavation of the site. A summary of the dig appeared in the latest edition of the Irish journal Ossory, Laois, and Leinster.
More:
http://news.discovery.com/history/archaeology/oldest-bog-body-130820.htm#mkcpgn=rssnws1