BORD NA Móna and its staff have been praised for their quick thinking to prevent damage to a prehistoric bog body found in Co Laois.
Ned Kelly, keeper at the National Museum’s Irish antiquities division, said the prompt action, particularly of the milling machine driver who made the discovery, was very welcome.
“They all responded very, very quickly and acted absolutely correctly. What we’ve got is very exciting,” Mr Kelly said.
“This is reasonably well preserved and completely in situ, so we can get information we couldn’t get before.”
Mr Kelly said the body would initially have been buried at a considerable depth.
The body, which is estimated to be more than 2,000 years old, was found in a leather bag. It was discovered in the Cul na Móna Bog near Portlaoise.
Conditions including highly acidic water, low temperature and a lack of oxygen combine to preserve bog bodies. In the process skin is severely tanned, giving it a leathery appearance.
Mr Kelly attributed significance to the location of the body.
“We can’t tell if it is Iron Age, but it has been found on an ancient tribal boundary, a characteristic of other finds of Iron Age date,” he said.
He said burying bodies on tribal boundaries was “an observed practice” during the Iron Age and this body did seem to fit to that description, though it was too early to be certain.
The body would be removed to the National Museum as soon as possible, he said, and a study of where it had been found would be carried out.
A spokesman for Bord na Móna said they were very excited about the find and welcomed the further investigations that would take place.
“We have a protocol in place for such finds and we are very pleased that it worked well in this instance,” he said.
Staff from both Bord na Móna and the National Museum also examined a mound of peat recovered from the same area of the bog which could possibly contain other parts of the find.
The museum currently has two well-preserved bog bodies on permanent display in its archaeological branch in Kildare Street, Dublin.
Both bodies are from the Iron Age and were found at Oldcroghan, Co Offaly, and Clonycavan, Co Meath.