| Description |
1 online resource (streaming video file) (51 min. 51 sec.) ; 313694708 bytes |
| Summary |
In late 2004, two Iron Age "bog bodies" were found in the prehistoric peat bogs of the Republic of Ireland - victims of an ancient ritual sacrifice - just 25 miles apart. As two of the three bog bodies ever found, the discovery of Old Croghan Man and Clonycavan Man was a turning point in archaeology and Irish history.Bog Bodies follows the 18 month investigation into the murder of these two men centuries ago, the discovery has stunned the world's archaeological community. Perfectly preserved but bearing signs of violent deaths, one body (6ft 6in) had been decapitated and had lost both his legs, while the other (5ft 2in) had been brutally attacked and was missing his entire lower body.To find one body was remarkable but to find two, especially within such close proximity, was without precedent. With only one previous 'bog body' found in the last 50 years, human remains experts had given up hope of finding any more bodies to help them unlock the mysteries of the past. So when Old Croghan Man and Clonycavan Man were found, the archaeologists of the world came together and a crack team of pathologists and scientists was quickly assembled to examine the evidence. Thirty five 'bog body' experts from six different countries came to Ireland to work on the remains, carrying out extensive photography and drawing, recording and measuring the bodies, and making anatomical and pathological descriptions. Samples were taken from both for radiocarbon dating and palaeodietary analysis, gut contents and hair were analysed, and the skeleton, ligaments and muscles were examined using CT and MRI scans.These men were found to be Celts in their twenties who lived in Ireland 2,000 years ago, between the Iron Age and the invasion by the Vikings. Aspects of their lifestyles and means of death were uncovered, including the sequence of tortures the men experienced before they died, and because the bodies were found on ancient territorial boundaries of warring tribes, historians deduced that the slaughter of these men were ritual sacrifices to the gods of fertility to ensure a successful tribal reign.Bog Bodies takes us along on this fascinating historical and archaeological journey, and into the kind of society our ancestors lived in two thousand years ago. (From the UK, in English) |
| Event |
Broadcast 2010-03-18 at 23:00:00 |
| Notes |
Classification: PG |
| Subject |
Bog bodies.
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Fossil hominids -- Craniology.
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Human remains (Archaeology) -- Methodology.
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Human skeleton -- Analysis.
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Irish -- Historiography.
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Paleopathologists.
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Ireland.
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| Form |
Streaming video
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| Author |
Brothwell, Don, contributor
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Buckley, Stephen, contributor
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Campbell, Eadaoin, contributor
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Fisher, John Hayes, director
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Fletcher, Joann, contributor
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Hall, Valerie, contributor
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Kelly, Ned, contributor
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Mulhall, Isabella, contributor
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Praed, Michael, cast
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Read, Rolly, contributor
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Taylor, Timothy, contributor
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Wilkinson, Caroline, contributor
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Wilson, Andrew, contributor
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