Two years ago, an Irish peat harvesting machine unearthed a new bog body — the ancient, mummified remains of a person buried in a peat bog. (The machine also took off the body’s head in the process of discovering it. But don’t worry. The face and parts of the jaw and teeth were later recovered.)
This week, researchers announced that the body, called Cashel Man, is actually 2000 years older than anybody had previously guessed, making him the oldest European bog body to ever be found with the skin still intact. Older bodies exist, but they’ve all basically been reduced to skeletons.
Judging by his injuries — the ones not caused by the peat harvester — Cashel Man was probably ritually sacrificed.
Detail of Cashel Man’s feet: From a photo by Eamonn Kelly, Keeper of Antiquities at the National Museum of Ireland.