tes to around 1300 BC.
The dating was carried out through radiocarbon tests on the body, the peat on which the body was lying, and a wooden stake found with the body, which all confirmed that the young man had lived in the early Bronze Age, around 2,000 BC, making it one of the most significant finds in Ireland in recent times.
It is believed that “Cashel man”, as he has been called, met a violent death in some sort of ritual sacrifice as an analysis on his remains revealed that his arm was broken by a blow and there were deep cuts to his back which appear to have been inflicted by a blade. The body was found in a crouched position and covered by peat and was placed in proximity to an inauguration site, all of which point the individual being the victim of a ritual sacrifice.
“It seems to be same type of ritual that we’ve observed in later Iron Age finds. What’s surprising here is that it’s so much earlier,” said Eamonn Kelly, keeper of Irish antiquities at the National Museum of Ireland.
Because of the lack of calluses on the hands and the well-groomed fingernails observed in other finds, though not this one as the hands were not recoverable, Mr Kelly suggests the victims belonged to the elite and may even have been kings that failed in their kingship and were sacrificed as a consequence.
The discovery promises to open a new chapter in the archaeological record of Bronze Age burial in Ireland.