Swamp Body Is Young Women, Not Teenagers – History Blog

The new study found that the Iron Age swamp agency discovered in Bellaghy, County Delhi, Northern Ireland in 2023, initially considered a teenage boy, actually a woman between 17 and 22 years old, She was 17 to 22 years old at that time. The vast majority of the Iron Age swamps preserved are men, which makes this discovery very important.

The headless body – bones, some soft tissue and a kidney – was found in the peat swamp in October 2023. The local recovery team of the police department in Northern Ireland was unable to determine whether they were recent or archaeological, so archaeologists excavated the remains and the remains and forensic anthropologists wrote them. Anthropologists have found that these remains are definitely archaeological, dating from 343 to 13 to 13 to 17 years old.

These preliminary results have now been subverted by an international team of forensic scientists and archaeologists who spent a year studying the recovered remains.

The person’s figure is estimated to be about 5 feet 6 inches. Although the body was well preserved, the skull was absent and was not restored. Traces on the cervical vertebrae indicate that the cause of death was intentional decapitation in the swamp. This may be part of the ritual and sacrifice mode during the Iron Age. A portion of a woven article made of plant materials is also recovered from under the knees, considered as part of the artifacts associated. The museum is currently working with experts to determine what the artifact might be and describe it as a woven plant-based fabric that may be personal and dates back to this period. […]

Eileen Murphy is Professor of Archaeology at the School of Natural and Built Environment, Queen’s University of Belfast. She conducted an osteological assessment that provided the individual with biological characteristics and determined the cause of their death. She explained,

“It is an honor to perform an osteological analysis of the remains of these important but very poignant archaeological figures. Like so many Iron Age swamp bodies, the young woman suffered a highly violent death involving blood flow in her throat and then beheaded. The head was taken away, but the body was left here, and only mechanical workers discovered it about 2,000 years later. Further scientific analysis, including the conclusion ADNA analysis, will undoubtedly produce more fascinating discoveries.”

The remains of humans and woven artifacts are now in the National Pathology Laboratory at the National Museum NI, and after the scientific research is concluded, they will be protected.