Old Croghan Man
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Old Croghan Man is the name given to a well-preserved Iron Age bog body found in an Irish bog in June 2003. He was named after Croghan Hill, north of Daingean, County Offaly, near where he was found. He is on display in the National Museum of Ireland in Dublin.
He stood 6 ft 6 in (1.98m) tall (calculated from his arm span), extremely tall for that time and now, and is the tallest bog body ever found. He was found three months after another body found in County Meath, called Clonycavan Man, who was remarkable for the "gel" found in his hair.
Old Croghan Man is also presumed to have been a man of high status, as demonstrated by his manicured nails, which were clearly untroubled by manual labour.
[edit] Old Croghan Man's death
He is believed to have been murdered by being stabbed in the chest, decapitated and his body cut in half. This is displayed by his lack of head and body below the hips. He also has a scar on his arm - possible evidence that he tried to defend himself, and so was not oblivious to the attack. He was tortured before his death; there are deep cuts under each of his nipples. He also had pleurisy, according to scars on his lungs.
His last meal (analysed from the contents in his stomach) was believed to have been wheat and buttermilk. At the time of his interment, he was naked except for a plaited leather band around his left hand.
He is believed to have died between 362 BC and 175 BC, making the body over 2,000 years old. The evidence shows that he was in his early twenties when he was killed. There are many theories as to why he was killed. Ned Kelly, head of antiquities at the National Museum of Ireland, thinks Old Croghan Man (and other bog bodies) was killed to ensure good yields of corn and milk in the royal lands nearby.
