Should we cut ‘bog bodies’ a little respect?
With such ancient remains now on public display, people are asking themselves if it is right that they should go and see what are, after all, the bones of real people — no matter how old they may be.
At present, the National Museum is exhibiting the remains of three so-called ‘bog bodies’, which can tell archaeologists and other experts a fascinating story about kingship and Irish prehistory. The remains of three adult men are on view.
The dilemma is between the respect a human body has been traditionally accorded in the civilised world and its value as an age-old, archaeological object. When scientifically analysed, the remains can tell a great deal about how people lived long, long ago and what kind of society they were part of.
Archaeologist Jerry O’Sullivan probes the issue in what he himself describes a “confessional” way. He is a project archaeologist in the national roads design office, Galway County Council, and might come across such bodies that have lain in unknown graves for hundreds, if not thousands, of years.
Mr O’Sullivan, who says he prevaricated on the issue of public display when put on the spot on an RTÉ Liveline programme recently, explores the matter in greater depth in the winter issue of Heritage Outlook, the magazine of the Heritage Council.
“The core of this problem is that the treatment of human remains by archaeologists is diametrically opposite to their treatment by society in general,’’ he points out.
“In almost every part of the world, in every period of human history, it has been customary to bury the dead with ceremony in a special place set apart from everyday life.
“The dead themselves are regarded with reverence. Strong taboos attach to their physical remains and the places where they lie. In effect, they are put apart and hidden away,’’ he goes on.
Archaeologists, on the other hand have a “lively and pragmatic’’ interest in such remains.
“We treat them as scientific material to be harvested, analysed and interpreted. We bring the dead back into the light, figuratively speaking, in our analytical reports and, quite literally, in our museum exhibitions,’’ he stresses.
Mr O’Sullivan says such remains are a very valuable scientific resource. Gender, age, diet, disease, working habits and social status are leave signs that tell us of the sort of life an individual led.
Whilst advocating a sympathetic treatment of the dead, he acknowledges that archaeological excavation and museum display are nowadays conducted with greater care and purpose that was sometimes the case in the past.
The National Museum has curatorial responsibility for ancient human remains discovered in archaeological excavations.
Remains on display at the Kingship and Sacrifice exhibition, which runs in Kildare Street until May 2008, reveal a surprising level of personal detail. One individual, for example, set his hair with a luxury gel made from pine resin and imported from the European mainland.
Another was exceptionally tall — six feet, six inches — but microscopic examination of his fingernails showed he had never done any physical labour.
All the bodies were accidentally discovered during peat-cutting at different locations and have since been the subject of intense analysis by an international team representing six countries.
As a means of showing respect to the bodies in the museum, each occupies a high-walled cylindrical cell, dimly lit and large enough for only a handful of people to enter at one time. On entering these places, many people feel compelled to remain silent, or at least to speak in low tones.
The British Museum, in London, has a huge amount of human remains — around 2,000 — from many parts of the world.
Among the best known in the British Museum is the Lindow Man, whose head and face are exceptionally well preserved.
CONNECT WITH US TODAY
Be the first to know the latest news and updates
