The National Museum of Ireland—Archaeology houses an extraordinary range of treasures from prehistoric times to the present. Admission is free.
My visit focused on prehistoric life and Ireland’s Bog Bodies Research Project, within the Kingship and Sacrifice exhibit.
Ireland’s Bog Bodies Research Project was established in 2003 following the discovery of two Iron Age bog bodies at Oldcroghan, County Offaly and Clonycavan, County Meath (below).
According to radiocarbon dating, Clonycavan Man died between 392 and 201 BC, during the Iron Age of western Europe, making his remains around 2,300 years old.
Believed to have been in his early 20s, Cloneycaven Man was about 5’2″with a squashed nose and crooked teeth and a thin beard. His hair is styled with a gel of plant oil and pine resin, which was imported from south-western France or Northern Spain, indicating that he was wealthy. A diet rich in vegetables and proteins suggests that he was killed during the warmer summer months
He was probably murdered. His skull was split open, there is a deep wound on the top of his head, and a large laceration across the bridge of his nose. He was also disemboweled. The reasons for his death are unknown, but it is theorized that he was a ritual sacrifice.
The reconstructed passage tomb (3400 – 2800 BC) (above, left) is a typical burial monument that consisted of a chamber at the end of a passage, covered by a mound or cairn of stones. Large stones also were used to construct retaining kerbs around the edges of the mounds. In many cases, the large stones were decorated with abstract designs. Passage tombs were often built with a large central tomb surround by smaller satellites. For more information about the passage tombs at Knowth, see Etched in Stone. For more about Newgrange, see First Light, Solstice Bright.
Before the wheel was invented, goods could only be transported on the backs of humans and animals or by boat. Ancient boats were made of organic materials, which have survived under special circumstances in bogs and lakes. Used both on the open sea and inland waters, log boats were made by hollowing out a straight tree trunk, usually oak, using an adze. The boats were covered with skins, similar to traditional currachs and coracles. The oldest surviving one is from Addergoole Bog, County Galway, circa 2500 BC.
Other exhibits at the National Museum of Ireland—Archaeology include:
- Viking Age
- Medieval Ireland
- Ór—Ireland’s Gold
- Glendalough, one of Ireland’s most important monastic sites
- Clontarf 1014: Brian Boru and the Battle for Dublin
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