Police officers thought they found a crime scene. Their discovery turned out to be 2,500 years old

When the Police Service of Northern Ireland received a call about human remains in October 2023, they thought there was a good chance they were about to see a crime scene.

But when they got there, they “couldn’t be sure if the remains were ancient or the result of a more recent death,” according to Detective Inspector Nikki Deehan from the Police Service.

What did police find?

The October 2023 tip was about a body sticking out at Bellaghy Bog in Londonderry County, Northern Ireland, per Smithsonian Magazine.

Police officers found that parts of the skin on the body were still pink and intact, and the kidney was still malleable when touched, Deehan said in an interview with the Financial Times.

The Police Service of Northern Ireland decided to excavate the body with care and treat it as a possible forensic investigation. They also found and studied several bones and fingernails.

With the help of researchers at Queen’s University Belfast, they were able to determine the body belonged to a young male between the ages of 13 and 17, and that he most likely died around 500 B.C.E, per Smithsonian Magazine. His body is now considered to be part of a class of human cadavers known as “bog bodies”.

Queen’s University Belfast also did a thorough search in the area the body was found in case there were any more “bog bodies”, but found nothing, per the Police Service.

What are bog bodies?

Bog bodies is a term used by researchers for mummified corpses found in a bog, which is type of wetland found in Northern Europe, according to National Geographic.

Many other bog bodies have been found in other European countries, Smithsonian Magazine reported.

Some researchers have also found preserved skeletons in the United States, specifically the peat ponds in Florida, according to National Geographic.

What can we learn from bog bodies?

Researchers have actually been able to learn a lot about ancient people from studying bog bodies. At the National Museum of Ireland they have what’s called the Bog Bodies Research Project to analyze and learn from these unique discoveries.

According to National Geographic, scientists have been able to figure out a bog body’s last meal, take their fingerprints and identify when they died. The oldest bog body ever found is the Koelbjerg Woman, who died around 8,000 B.C.E.

There is also the bog body known as the Tollund Man, who was found in Denmark in 1950, according to Smithsonian Magazine. His body was so well preserved that officials thought they had stumbled upon a murder scene. They could see a noose that was still around his neck.

“I hope, in due course, the find will help us all understand better something of our very early history,” said John Joe O’Boyle, the chief executive of forest service in Northern Ireland, about the recent bog body discovery there.