Posted on 06/21/2006 4:58:55 PM PDT by blam
Bog bodies found were society's elite
19:45pm 20th June 2006
Research into Iron Age bog bodies discovered in the midlands of Ireland has revealed they were elite members of society who may have met violent deaths as part of kingship rituals.
As the bodies discovered in 2003 went on display at the National Museum of Ireland, Eamonn Kelly, the keeper of Irish antiquities, said they were placed along significant boundaries of ancient kingdoms linking them to sovereignty and kingship rituals during the Iron Age.
"The bodies fit in, in that they are also offerings, they are offerings to the territorial gods or goddesses but they may also at a practical level have represented the elimination of perhaps failed candidates for kingship or deposed kings," said Mr Kelly on the two bodies discovered in bogs at Oldcroghan, Co Offaly and Clonycavan, Co Meath.
Research has shown that many of the items discovered, such as kingly regalia, horse trappings and weapons, were connected with the inauguration rituals of kings which can be traced back to the Bronze Age.
"All of the bog bodies were members of the elite, Oldcroghan man had no wear on his hands, had manicured fingernails, Clonycavan man is able to afford expensive hair gel brought in from Spain. So these are members of the elite, they are not slaves, they are not prisoners of war.
"They might be royal hostages who have been killed to enforce the submission of subservient lords," Mr Kelly said at the launch of the exhibition 'Kingship and Sacrifice - An exhibition of bog bodies and related finds'.
Mr Kelly said it was common with all bog bodies discovered that they had suffered violent deaths.
"The nature of the killings is clearly ritualistic, there is a phased approach to the killing of these men, some of them may have died from the first blow they received, the rest of it is just going through the ritual of inflicting particular wounds for particular religious or ritual reasons," he said.
'Although cultures change, lifestyles change, people are people'
Researchers highlighted a significant feature on Clonycavan man - his distinctive hairstyle. On the back of his head, the hair was cut short, with the rest of the hair, around 20cm long, gathered into a bundle on the top of his head.
His hair was held in place by hair gel made from resin imported from France or Spain - suggesting he was a person of high status.
"The idea of somebody taking this sort of pride in their appearance, this sort of attention to detail, shows it is not a modern concept," Rolly Read, head of conservation at the museum, said. "Although cultures change, lifestyles change, people are people."
It was discovered Clonycavan man had died from a series of blows to his head, and a long cut to his abdomen suggesting he may have been disembowelled.
Oldcroghan man, who was over 25-years-old at the time of his death and about six feet four inches tall, was stabbed in the chest. He was decapitated, had his nipples cut and his thorax severed. The cutting of the nipples would have rendered Oldcroghan man ineligible for kingship.
Isabelle Mulhall, co-ordinator of the research, said it was a significant project involving many scientific techniques including finger printing, radiocarbon dating and dental analysis which yielded information about their diet and condition.
"We were able to talk about their last meals for example, one of the bodies had eaten cereals and buttermilk," she said.
"Both bodies were remarkably well preserved, they were incomplete, but nevertheless remarkably well deserved."
GGG Ping.
Before and/or after their deaths?
Ancient metrosexuals?
I guess their murders should be considered "Hate crimes" then? ;-)
They had manicures and wore hair gel...
Maybe that's why they were murdered...
Maybe we should pick up this tradition and sacrifice a few Senators at each Presidential Inauguration. ;)
Bog bodies were society's elite...or maybe that's what they did to Congressional-types who didn't do what the people wanted.
LOL. I just love the definition of elite.
Bad Marty! BAD!
"All of the bog bodies were members of the elite, Oldcroghan man had no wear on his hands, had manicured fingernails, Clonycavan man is able to afford expensive hair gel brought in from Spain. So these are members of the elite, they are not slaves, they are not prisoners of war."
Obviously ancient Kennedy Clan members. ;)
What I'm wondering about this line is, Who came up with THIS rule? And WHY?
Cat scan reconstruction of Yde Girl.Spooky.
Ref:http://www.civilization.ca/media/docs/fsbog01e.html
Well you see, in those days it was a lot colder in those latitudes, and people would say, "Aye, tis verily nippily
out" but there was great disagreement and so the Queen (usually) would be brought out bare chested to test the weather. Now no nipples would obviously mean they couldn't
test as was the divine right so they were disqualified .
Simple when you know your history.
"The idea of somebody taking this sort of pride in their appearance, this sort of attention to detail, shows it is not a modern concept,"
A pre-historic poofter?
"The bodies fit in, in that they are also offerings, they are offerings to the territorial gods or goddesses but they may also at a practical level have represented the elimination of perhaps failed candidates for kingship or deposed kings," said Mr Kelly on the two bodies discovered in bogs at Oldcroghan, Co Offaly and Clonycavan, Co Meath.
5,000 years from now they'll be digging up suburban homes in what was the United States and claim that our outdoor grills were a place to offer sacrifices to our God. (After all, when they see the indoor electric stove why would they possibly imagine that we would cook outside over fire?)
I’ve often wondered that myself. What would some future archeologist think about who I was and how I lived if he/she excavated the remains of my house? What would they make of my three TV’s and two computers? What would they think I used my George Foreman grill for? What would they think I used my…..oh never mind, better not go there….
I think the tip off to it being ritual sacrifice is in the other objects they found along with the bodies and the manner in which these folks met their deaths. Human sacrifice was common then and took place in many places in the world until very recently and in some extremely remote places, probably still does. Then later in ancient and Biblical times, animal sacrifices were substituted for humans. Some today even still practice some forms of sacrifice – Penance, Acts of Contrition, fasts associated with Lent and Purim, taxes…
Absolutely against throwing Paris Hilton into a bog! (A hot tub in my backyard is OK.)
Will help with all the rest!
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