| Bellaghy Boy Human Mummy | |
| |
| Biographical Information | |
|---|---|
| Name(s) | Unknown |
| Age | 13 - 17 years old |
| Sex | Male (possibly) |
| Status | Unknown |
| Height | Unknown |
| Source | |
| Culture | Northern Irish |
| Date(s) | Approximately 500 BCE |
| Site | Bellaghy, County Londonderry, Northern Ireland |
| Current Location | |
| Location | Unknown |
| Catalog # | |
In October 2023, police in Northern Ireland were called in after the discovery of human bones and body parts in peatland. After tests, it was determined the remains were not of a modern murder victim, and that the body is in fact dated to at least 2,000 years old and potentially 2,500 years old.[1]
Mummification[]
The body was partially preserved, though largely skeletonized, with the presence of partial skin, fingernails, toenails, and possibly a kidney.
Studies[]
They recovered “a tibia, a fibula, then a humerus, an ulna, and a radius bone from the lower left leg and right arm of a young man.” Then, five meters south of these remains, the bones of a lower left arm and a left femur were identified, and in between the bulk of the remains and the secondary scattering, police found “finger bones, fingernails, part of the left femur and the breastbone.” A post mortem was carried out by a forensic anthropologist who determined that the individual was probably a male aged between 13 and 17 years old at the time of death.[2] The head remains missing and it is unknown if it was removed before or after death.
The remains were amongst a cluster of preserved tree remains suggesting that the boy may have died or been buried in a copse or stand of trees, or washed in.
Authorities transferred the remains to the National Museums Northern Ireland to conduct further investigations and determine how the boy died.[3]
Pathology[]
Cause of death has not yet been determined.