Stoneyisland Man

The Stoneyisland man is a Neolithic bog body that was discovered in 1929 in the bog Bog Stoneyisland at Gortanumera in County Galway. The man is currently Ireland's oldest known bog body.

Discovery

The Torfstecher James Dolphin, Thomas Rodgers and John Spain met on 13 May in 1929 working on Dolphins plot, near the center of the Stoneyisland - Bogs, on a human skeleton. At first they suspected to have present the remains of a Mr. Ward from Ballyshrule, who was missing for some time. The skeleton was roughly 3 meters below an undisturbed peat layer, and only a few inches above the existing ground of the moor. The mind is said to have had contact with the ground. According Dolphins no further items were found with the skeleton. He also stated that he previously in higher layers of peat on ashes of former fires, logs and charcoal residues, and in another area of the moor, in about 1.5 meters deep, had encountered the remains of a Einbaumes. Location of Stoneyisland Bogs: 53 ° 5 ' 2.5 " N, 8 ° 17' 41 " W53.084024 - 8.294721Koordinaten: 53 ° 5 ' 2.5 " N, 8 ° 17' 41 " W

Findings

The Stoneyisland - man lying in a supine position with a right angle to the upper body arms tightened. The skeleton was complete. T. Shea, who worked in the region for the British Geography authority Ordnance Survey, the skeleton dug out completely and sent it for further investigation of the anatomical museum of the University College Galway. Due to the anatomical examination of Shea is an approximately 40 -year-old man, with a height of about 157 cm. The joints showed signs of wear due to severe physical stress. The teeth were heavily worn down. Shea observed on the lower jaw, teeth and limb bones numerous characteristic similarities with other prehistoric skeletal remains from Western Europe. He further concluded that the body does not slowly sank in a bog, but that the man drowned in the then still open sea, sank to the bottom, and was later overgrown by the silted lake with bog.

Dating

The find has been dated by Mr White from the Queen's University of Belfast, by means of a pollen analysis of the peat layer in the period 4500-2000 BC. The 14C - dating of four samples were in the range between 6200-5170 BP ( 4250-3220 BC), with three current samples in the range between 5270-5170 BP ( 3320-3220 BC) were and thus a slightly younger age confirm the find.