Clonycavan Man is the name for a preserved human corpse, called a bog body , that was removed from a peat bog at Clonycavan near the village of Ballivor in County Meath , Ireland , in 2003. A peat bog is a wetland in which the soil consists primarily of peat , partially decayed mosses and other plant matter. Soil and water conditions in a peat bog greatly slow the decay of organic (biological) matter. Much of Clonycavan Man’s skin, head, hair, and torso were preserved. The forearms, lower torso, and legs may have been destroyed by a peat-harvesting machine. Radiocarbon dating showed that he lived and died about 2,300 years ago, during the Iron Age .
Scientists examining the body determined that he was an adult male, who probably died when he was around 30 years old. He was well groomed and preserved with a raised hairstyle made using a hair-styling gel of vegetable oil and pine resin. Archaeologists analyzing the gel discovered it was made from plants native to southwestern France and Spain. Such imported grooming products were expensive, suggesting that Clonycavan Man was a member of the upper class.
Wounds show that Clonycavan Man had been struck in the back of his head with a sharp object, possibly an axe, that fractured his skull. The same object may have been used to break his nose. He had beendisemboweled (had his entrails ripped out) and his chest had been slashed with a sharp knife. Archaeologists think he may have been killed in a ritual by Druid priests as a human sacrifice . In Celtic Ireland, valuable items, such as swords and jewelry, were deposited in watery bogs as offerings to the gods. The offerings sometimes included human sacrifice. Kings in Celtic Ireland may have risked such a fate if calamities, such as crop failures or plagues, occurred during their reign. Clonycavan Man is on display at the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin.
