It was a new archaeological service’s first project, and what a first project it was.
Last week, Slig-Leitrim Archaeological Services (SLAS) posted on their Facebook page about their bizarre first project: being called out to excavate the bones of a 1,000 year-old young man.
The bones were found after a winter storm blew over a 215 year-old tree in Collooney, Sligo in Ireland. They were discovered in May after the National Monuments Service, who deals with archaeological finds, was contacted.
However, SLAS waited to announce the findings until they could carbon-date the bones.
After excavation, the legs of the individual were found still in the ground.
“Basically, they had been in the ground 800 years before the tree was planted,” Marion Dowd of SLAS told Global News. “Because the roots grew up around them, the bones were badly damaged.”
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However, the radio-carbon dating could tell them that the bones were that of a young man who died between the ages of 17 and 20 years-old. There were knife wounds to his ribs and hands suggesting that he was attacked and attempted to defend himself.
Though he died violently, it appears that someone gave him a Christian burial.
Dowd, who has been an archaeologist for 20 years, said that since the findings were posted she has been inundated with calls.
“It’s very surprising: sometimes an archaeological excavation gets no attention, and we think it should. And other times, some interesting ones — like this one — get a lot of attention. I don’t know why.”
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