| Galagh Man Human Mummy | |
| |
| Biographical Information | |
|---|---|
| Name(s) | Gallagh Man |
| Age | 25 |
| Sex | male |
| Status | |
| Height | |
| Source | |
| Culture | iron age |
| Date(s) | 470-120 BCE |
| Site | |
| Current Location | |
| Location | National Museum of Ireland |
| Catalog # | |
Gallagh Man was discovered in an Irish bog in County Galway in 1821. He was dressed in a hide cap, and nothing else. He was found with wooden stakes anchored on each side of the body, and willow rods clasped around his neck. The body of the adult man. Gallagh Man was dug up several times to be shown to visitors before being removed from the bog in 1829.
Mummification []
The Gallagh man was naturally mummified in a peat bog. The acidic properties and oxygen-free environment of the bog do not allow bacteria and fungi to decompose the body, allowing it to be preserved. Sphagnum moss, often found in bogs, acts as an antibiotic, contributing to the mummification.
Additional[]
The body was was discovered lying on his on his left side, draped in a skin cape some nine feet below the surface. Beneath the cape he was naked, but whether he once wore linen clothes that have disintegrated over time is unclear. He was anchored to the peat with two long wooden stakes, and around his neck was a band of willow rods likely used to strangle him.
A cape was found around one of his lower legs.
He was roughly 25 years old at the time of death, he died between 470 and 120 B.C.
His teeth, and long dark-reddish hair and beard were well preserved. The leather mantle was badly damaged during disinterment, but surviving fragments are displayed at the National Museum. It was sewn together with three knotted gut threads.
The body was bought by the Royal Irish Academy in 1829 and is now possessed by the archaeology department of the National Museum of Ireland, Dublin, where it is one of four such bodies in their collection.
References[]
Archaeology Magazine - Bodies of the Bogs - Violence in the Bogs - Archaeology Magazine Archive. (n.d.). Retrieved October 27, 2015, from http://archive.archaeology.org/online/features/bog/violence3.html
Bog Bodies of Northern Europe. (n.d.). Retrieved October 27, 2015, from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/bog/ways-nf.html
Bog Bodies of the Iron Age. (n.d.). Retrieved October 27, 2015, from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/bog/iron-01.html