Police Find Ancient Teenager's Body, Preserved in Irish Bog for 2,500 Years

Nicknamed the “Bellaghy Boy,” he was likely between 13 and 17 when he died around 500 B.C.E.

Sonja Anderson
Daily Correspondent

February 6, 2024

When law enforcement officials investigated the body of a teenage boy found in a bog in Northern Ireland, they weren’t sure whether the remains belonged to someone recently deceased. Parts of the body’s skin were intact and “as pink as yours or mine,” Nikki Deehan, a detective inspector with the Police Service of Northern Ireland, tells the Financial Times’ Jude Webber. “The kidney was malleable to the touch.”

Officials then learned that the remarkably well-preserved remains are actually between 2,000 and 2,500 years old.

Police were first called to County Londonderry’s Bellaghy Bog in October, when a civilian noticed human bones sticking out of the peat. Given the state of the remains, the “Bellaghy Boy” was initially treated like a potential crime scene.

“On initial examination, we couldn’t be sure if the remains were ancient or the result of a more recent death,” says Deehan in a statement from the Police Service. “Therefore, we proceeded to excavate the body with full forensic considerations in a sensitive and professional manner.”

Forensic anthropologists determined the boy was likely between 13 and 17 years old, though the cause of death remains mysterious. Because the body was so well-preserved, researchers at Queen’s University Belfast’s 14Chrono Center were able to conduct radiocarbon testing—which found the teenager died around 500 B.C.E.

More:
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/a-bog-in-northern-ireland-preserved-this-teenagers-body-for-2500-years-180983734/