Archeologists have found a rare ‘bog body’ preserved in peatland for more than 2,000 years. 

The skeleton was found about three feet (one metre) below the surface of government-owned land in Bellaghy, a village in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland.

Described as ‘well preserved’ but not totally intact, the bones were found with partial skin, fingernails of the left hand, toenails and even what’s thought to be a kidney.

They remains all belonged to the same person – believed to be a male aged between 13 to 17 years of age at the time of death.

Bog bodies like this are so-called because they’ve been amazingly well-preserved by the natural oxygen-free conditions of a peat bog.

The rare find is a bog body – meaning it’s been incredibly well-preserved over more than 2,000 years in the unique conditions of a natural peat bog. The bones were found last October at the site in Bellaghy, Co Londonderry but only now has the age been confirmed

The site in Bellaghy, Co Londonderry, where human remains that are potentially 2,500 years old were found

Peat bogs are oxygen-free environments – a condition that prevents decay. Pictured, the amazingly well-preserved Tollund Man

The remains of the body were first found in the government-owned area of peatland in October 2023, but only now have experts confirmed the age.

Radiocarbon dating by experts at Queen’s University Belfast has placed the time of death between 2,000 and 2,500 years ago, approximately 500 BC.

Initially, Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) could not be sure if the remains were ancient or the result of a more recent death.

‘Therefore, we proceeded to excavate the body with full forensic considerations in a sensitive and professional manner,’ said PSNI Detective Inspector Nikki Deehan.

‘This approach also ensures that any DNA evidence could be secured for any potential criminal investigation.
‘Ultimately this wasn’t the case in this instance.’

At the moment, little is known about the identity of the male – or the cause of his untimely passing while still in his teenage years.

His estimated year of death – 500 BC – is the late period of Prehistoric Ireland and around the time the Irish Iron Age began.

It’s also around the time that the Celts first arrived in Ireland from mainland Europe, most sources agree.

Bellaghy is a village in County Londonderry, Northern Ireland. It’s perhaps best known as the birthplace, childhood home and resting place of poet Seamus Heaney

The remains of the body were first found in the peatland in October 2023, but only now have experts confirmed the age. Pictured, left hand bones

Discovery of what the experts think is a kidney is testament to the unique ability of peatlands to preserve even human tissue.

Pictured, PSNI’s body recovery team at the site in Bellaghy, Co Londonderry. The skeletal remains are believed to be from a male aged between 13 to 17 years of age at the time of death

What are bog bodies?

Peatlands – waterlogged soils which cover about 10 per cent of the UK – contain very little oxygen.

This means that organic materials like wood, leather, textiles and even, in some cases, human flesh do not rot.

They are preserved by the stable anoxic chemistry of the soil and can survive for thousands of years.

However, if the soils dry because of climate change, oxygen can enter the system and this begins the process of decomposition, meaning artefacts can decay quite quickly.

Archaeologists fear we would lose the chance to better understand our past.

John Joe O’Boyle, chief executive of the Northern Ireland government’s Forest Service, hailed the body as a ‘very exciting find’.

It marks the first time radiocarbon dating has been used on a bog body in Northern Ireland, and the only one to still exist.

‘I hope, in due course, the find will help us all understand better something of our very early history,’ O’Boyle said.

‘It certainly adds an important chapter to the historical and cultural significance of this hinterland and archaeological discoveries of bog bodies across Europe.’

Bellaghy is perhaps best known as the birthplace, childhood home and resting place of poet Seamus Heaney.

As it happens, Heaney’s 1975 poetry collection ‘North’ includes several poems about bog bodies.

‘Seamus Heaney, when he was writing his series of poems inspired by bog bodies, probably never expected such a find on his own doorstep,’ said O’Boyle.

After being alerted to the remains in October, PSNI’s archaeological unit excavated leg bones (the tibia and fibula) and a humerus (the bone of the upper arm), as well as the ulna and radius bones of right arm.

About 16 feet away, the bones of a lower left arm and a left femur (thigh bone) were located protruding from the ground.

Further examination of the area located additional finger bones, fingernails, another part of the left femur and the breastbone.

Discovery of what the experts think is a kidney is testament to the unique ability of peatlands to preserve human tissue.

Northern Ireland’s new bog body is the only one to exist in the country. Pictured, the lower limb bones

The area close to the site in Bellaghy, Co Londonderry, where human remains carbon dated as old as 2,000-2,500 years were found

Human remains found in bog thought to be thousands of years old

Peatlands contain very little oxygen, so organic materials like wood, leather, textiles and even human flesh do not rot.
A post mortem carried out by a certified forensic anthropologist determined the individual was possibly a male aged between 13-17 years old at the time of death.

The remains – discovered on land owned by Department of Agriculture – will now be transferred to the ownership of National Museums NI, which will continue with further examination and preservation of the remains.

Although its state of preservation is impressive, Northern Ireland’s bog body is not quite as unspoiled as the famous Tollund Man of Denmark.

Tollund Man may have been a criminal or was possibly even sacrificed around 400 BC as part of a ritual practice ‘to keep the gods satisfied’.

THE CHEMISTRY OF BOG BODIES

Bog bodies are preserved human remains found in natural peat bogs, mostly in northern and western Europe but also elsewhere.

Such bogs are anaerobic (oxygen-free) environments – a condition that prevents decay.

They are also heavy with tannins, a group of naturally occurring chemicals used in tanning leather.

The tannins preserve organic materials such as human bodies, including the soft tissues and the contents of the digestive tract.

This means that soft parts of the body – like skin, hair and stomach contents – are well-preserved in bodies recovered from bogs.

The most well-preserved bodies – such as the woman from Huldremose, Grauballe Man and Tollund Man – have been found in raised bogs.

However, many other conditions must also be fulfilled in order to prevent micro-organisms from breaking down the human body. The corpse must be sunk in water or dug into the ground and covered quickly.

In addition, the deposition of the body must occur when the bog water is cold in the winter or early spring, otherwise the process of decay can begin.

Archaeological excavations have also shown that some of the bog bodies from the end of the Bronze Age and Early Iron Age were placed in old peat-digging holes and that the bodies were held down with sticks or turfs.

Source: Encyclopaedia Britannica/National Museum of Denmark