Body Discovered in Bog Dates Back More Than 2,000 Years

Police in Northern Ireland said a body discovered in bogland has been dated as being between 2,000 and 2,500 years old.

The remains were first discovered in Bellaghy in County Derry in October 2023.

“On initial examination, we couldn’t be sure if the remains were ancient or the result of a more recent death,” said Det Insp Nikki Deehan of the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI).

The Sunday World reported in November that members of the families of the Disappeared – people killed and secretly buried by paramilitaries during the conflict in Northern Ireland – were in contact with police in relation to the discovery.

A post mortem was carried out by a certified forensic anthropologist and determined that the individual was possibly a male aged between 13 and 17 at the time of death, according to a statement from the PSNI.

The remains were found near the home place of Nobel Laureate poet Seamus Heaney, who wrote several poems about bog bodies.

Commenting on the latest discovery, John Joe O’Boyle, chief executive of Forest Service Northern Ireland, said: “Seamus Heaney, when he was writing his series of poems inspired by bog bodies, probably never expected such a find on his own doorstep." Credit: PoliceServiceNI via Storyful

Video transcript

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- The archeology unit within the body recovery team were alerted to human bones on the surface of the peatland here in Bellaghy. At first we couldn't be sure if the remains were ancient or a result of a more recent death. So we proceeded to recover the body with full forensic considerations. A certified forensic anthropologist carried out a post-mortem which determined the remains were that of an adolescent, possibly a male, between the ages of 13 and 17 years.

Radiocarbon analysis dated the remains to be at approximately 500 BC. And unlike some other bog bodies, the individual skeleton was well preserved and had the presence of partial skin, fingernails in the left hand, toenails, and a kidney. This is the first time radiocarbon dating has been used on a bog body in Northern Ireland, and it's the only one to still exist, thus making this a truly unique archeological discovery.