| Stoneyisland Man | |
| Biographical Information | |
|---|---|
| Name(s) | The Stoney Island Man |
| Age | ~40 |
| Sex | Male |
| Status | unknown |
| Height | 5' 2" |
| Source | |
| Culture | |
| Date(s) | 3320 – 3220 BC |
| Site | Stoneyisland bog, Ireland |
| Current Location | |
| Location | |
| Catalog # | |
Stoneyisland Man was discovered in the Stoneyisland Bog of Gortanumera, County Galway, Ireland on May 13, 1929 by Turf-cutters James Dolphin, Thomas Rodgers, and John Spain. The body was found under 10 feet of peat. When the body was first discovered it was thought to be the remains of a local missing man. "The skeleton was intact with the arms outstretched at right angles to the body."
The individual who excavated the body was Mr. T. Shea, he was also the professor who would examine the body. Shea posited that due to the position of the body - outstretched arms - that the body had not been discarded directly into the bog, rather the man had drowned, sunk to the bottom of the lake that was once in that location, and the bog had formed to cover and preserve him over the years. Shea concluded that that the body was of a man, of about forty years of age, who stood 5'2" tall. The Stoneyisland man is believed to date to 3320-3220 B.C.
Mummification[]
Mummification occurred in Stoneyisland Bog, once a lake - where the man was believed to have originally drowned - eventually turned into a bog, and this is what allowed for the preservation. The moss restricts oxygen making it difficult for microbes that would typically cause decomposition to develop, thus preserving the remains for thousands and thousands of years.
Studies[]
After Shea's studies on the body there have been no recent notable studied beyond that of radiocarbon dating which further confirmed the body' age.
Pollen and peat analysis dated the remains to sometime after 4500 BCE. Several radiocarbon datings put the remains between 3320–3220 BC.[2]
Pathology[]
There is no evidence that suggests the Stoneyisland man suffered from any illness or disease. Cause of death was possibly drowning. "The lower jaw and teeth, and a large number of the limbs bones were peculiar to prehistoric skeletons in Western Europe. The period of the skeleton was further determined by the degree of flattening of some of the arm and leg bones which are characteristic of skeletons of Neolithic man."
The bogs composition and preservation ability also allows for microbotanical remains such as pollen to survive for thousands of years. Pollen can be used as a dating technique which was implimented in the case of the Stoneyisland Man, this date him back to sometime after 4500 BCE
Additional[]
Although no other items were found with the Stoneyisland man, James Dolphin claimed to have found a canoe at while cutting turf in another part of the bog on a previous occasion.
External Links[]
https://www.revolvy.com/main/index.php?s=Stoneyisland%20Man
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2006/07/bless_this_boggy_book.html
White, J. (1931). Pollen Analysis of Peat from Stoneyisland, Portumna, Co. Galway. The Irish Naturalists' Journal, 3(10), 210-214. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/25531934