Remains of Young Woman Unearthed at Crannog

News April 15, 2013

SHARE:

ENNISKILLEN, IRELAND—The unusual burial of a young woman has been unearthed at a crannog in County Fermanagh, leading archaeologists to wonder if she may have been murdered. “This person wasn’t laid out on their back in an east-west direction, which is normal for a Christian burial. The body seems to have been bundled into [the] position it was buried in,” said archaeologist Nora Bermingham. Further examination of her remains could reveal the cause of her death, which probably took place in the fifteenth or sixteenth century, during the later years of the settlement on the artificial island. More than 4,000 artifacts dating back 1,400 years have been recovered.

  • Features March/April 2013

    Pirates of the Original Panama Canal

    Searching for the remains of Captain Henry Morgan's raid on Panama City

    Read Article
    (Courtesy Captain Morgan Rum Co.)
  • Features March/April 2013

    A Soldier's Story

    The battle that changed European history, told through the lens of a young man’s remains

    Read Article
    (Courtesy Dominique Bosquet)
  • Letter From Cambodia March/April 2013

    The Battle Over Preah Vihear

    A territorial dispute involving a 1,100-year-old Khmer temple on the Thai-Cambodian border turns violent

    Read Article
    (Masuru Goto)
  • Artifacts March/April 2013

    Pottery Cooking Balls

    Scientific analyses and experimental archaeology determine that mysterious, 1,000-year-old balls of clay found at Yucatán site were used in cooking

    Read Article
    (Courtesy Bolonchen Regional Archaeological Project)