Gods in the Bog
Above: The statue recovered from the bog! Credit: AMS
An eight foot tall wood statue from 1,600 years ago has been discovered in an Irish peat bog that researchers believe was a totem to a pagan deity. Along with the statue, animal bones and a dagger were found suggesting the site may have had some ritual purpose to the ancient peoples who crafted it. One specialist said that it may have even functioned as a stand in for a human sacrifice.
When preserving artifacts, you often have to provide on strong construction, a safe environment, and a lot of luck. The pyramids, the pantheon, and medieval castles all have this in common. Some sites though, like the bogs in Ireland or Pompeii for instance, are able to naturally capture and preserve things for thousands of years. Learn more about the statue at Smithsonian Mag here!
An eight foot tall wood statue from 1,600 years ago has been discovered in an Irish peat bog that researchers believe was a totem to a pagan deity. Along with the statue, animal bones and a dagger were found suggesting the site may have had some ritual purpose to the ancient peoples who crafted it. One specialist said that it may have even functioned as a stand in for a human sacrifice.
When preserving artifacts, you often have to provide on strong construction, a safe environment, and a lot of luck. The pyramids, the pantheon, and medieval castles all have this in common. Some sites though, like the bogs in Ireland or Pompeii for instance, are able to naturally capture and preserve things for thousands of years. Learn more about the statue at Smithsonian Mag here!
Cool Things!
The Mystery of the Yixian Formation
Sapeornis chaoyangensis from the Yixian Formation
Post Author - Ellis Nolan
With new technologies...
Explore the Lost Cities of the Silk Road
Lidar mapping of Tashbulak, one of the lost cities discovered in Uzbekistan
Post Author - Ellis ...
Antediluvian: A Nuanced look at the Paleoart of Old
Some images from Mario Lanzas's Antediluvian
Post Author - J. Carlin Decker III
Dinosaurs and the...
Specimen Deep Dives
Gondwana: When the Earth Was One
Gondwana, also known as Gondwanaland, was an ancient supercontinent which first formed 800,000,00...
Pangaea: the Prehistoric Supercontinent
Driven by heat from the core, convection currents churn the solid silicates of the mantle, pushin...
The Tethys Ocean: A Lost Prehistoric Sea
Endless and eternal are two words most often associated with the sea. Yet, like so many structure...
Long Form Articles
Amelia Earhart & The Women Who Soared
When Amelia Earhart touched down in Northern Ireland in 1932, she was instantly propelled to ...
How the Dinosaurs Got their Feathers
66 million years ago, the K/PG extinction event brought the Age of Dinosaurs to a violent end. Ho...
Paleoart: Bringing the Past to Life
What do you see when you imagine a dinosaur? Whatever image springs to mind owes itself to the wo...