Ballymacombs More Woman: A Grisly Mystery Unearthed In Northern Ireland After 2,000 Years

Little did the workers realize they had just found the first evidence of a body that would have massive significance for Irish history. But each step of its recovery and subsequent analysis also offers a rare insight into the different expertise involved in a strange case like this.  

The police were called and quickly verified that the bone was indeed human, so a major crime scene was set up out there in the cold moors. Detective Constable Clare McGranaghan, the lead officer for Forensic Archaeology within the Police Service of Northern Ireland’s Body Recovery Team, was initially sent photos of the remains.

“The photographs were of a right humerus, ulna, and radius, and then a left tibia and fibula with the lower leg and the distal end, so the bottom of the femur, so it’s the bit that would come down to articulate with them,” McGranaghan told IFLScience.

“I knew from looking at them they were sort of flipped, but they were still articulated,” which means the bones were still attached at their joints, so their position in life was preserved.

This visual information was enough to conclude that someone, whoever they were, had likely been buried at this site and that this was not a case of parts of a body having been scattered by animals. It meant that the rest of this person was likely nearby.

The next day, McGranaghan and colleagues visited the bog to examine the bones.

“We did an initial examination of the bones, and it was quite clear that the distal and proximal ends of some of the bones hadn’t fused, so they weren’t completely apart to indicate a young person, but they weren’t an adult.”

So, they were dealing with an adolescent, and a subsequent search of the area revealed more of the body about 5 meters (16 feet) away. Before too long, the team had secured the area, and over the next few days, they unearthed more of this unknown person who was buried near the surface.

After further consideration, McGranaghan concluded that the bones discovered by the workers had likely gotten stuck under the large, soft tires of one of the machines they were using. These tires are designed to be smooth, so they don’t sink into the mud as they travel across the soft peat bog. Once the tire completed one whole rotation, the bones were then left on the surface, 5 meters away.

That explained their strange distribution, but what else did this initial examination reveal? Well, at this point, it was unclear whether this was a murder victim, a case of a missing person, or something else altogether. During their search, the team did not find any evidence of a grave cut into the ground, nor did they find any clothing, artifacts, or anything else of forensic value. 

However, the bones still had soft tissue around the ribs, the pelvis, the legs, and the feet. There were even toenails visible. The person had been buried while lying on their back, and their feet were drawn up and lying on their right-hand side. But despite all their searching, the one thing the team did not find was this person’s head.

At this point, the police were treating this as a potential crime scene, so they consulted Dr Alastair Ruffell, an expert in Geoforensics (sometimes known as Forensic Geology) at Queen’s University, Belfast. Ruffell has offered his expertise to criminal investigations in the past as his specialism allows him to help find forensic evidence in particularly difficult environments, such as around bodies of water or a bog, and to analyze trace evidence found at a scene. 

In this instance, they carried out two phases of high-resolution ground penetrating radar surveying to make sure that there were no more remains underground and that nothing else of value had been missed.

It was now that the remains were removed and sent for pathological examination. At this point, a sample was taken by a forensic anthropologist for carbon dating, transforming the whole investigation. The results showed that this unknown individual had been in the ground for between 2,000-2,500 years – since sometime between 343 to 1 BCE. This was no live crime scene; this was an archaeological investigation into a unique Irish bog body.

Preserved for millennia

To be sure, not all bodies discovered in a boggy location can be known as a true bog body. Instead, this specific classification is given to cadavers that have been naturally and probably unintentionally mummified in peat bogs over long(ish) periods of time. Some such specimens have come into existence by accident, where people have drowned in a watery environment, while others may have been deliberately placed in the peat for a specific reason. Regardless of how they ended up in the waters, these bodies can become preserved by the specific conditions in peat bogs.

“Peat bog land is primarily acidic, and the oxygen-poor conditions allow for the natural mummification of remains,” Niamh Baker, Curator of Archaeology at the National Museums of Northern Ireland, told IFLScience.

“This is achieved via the generation of both an acidic environment through the decay actions of Sphagnum mosses and similar, as well as the fast burial of any remains placed in the bog. The fast burial allows the reduction of oxygen around the remains, leading to an anaerobic environment.”

The highly acidic conditions and low oxygen levels reduce the number of bacteria present in the bog, which helps prevent or slow down decomposition. The speed of this type of burial also prevents the body from being fed upon by scavenging animals, such as rats or insects, or decomposers like fungi or mold. As such, bog bodies can often exhibit biological material that is typically absent from bodies buried in other conditions, such as having their skin, hair, and finger and toenails intact. If the person was wearing animal hides at the time of their death, then these too can be preserved. 

What was first thought to be potentially a male aged between 13 and 17 years old, is most likely a female aged between 17 and 22 years old.

Niamh Baker

It might be tempting to think that bog bodies occur anywhere where bogs and people have met, but this is not the case. To date, pretty much every bog body has been discovered in Northern Europe, in countries like Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Britain, Ireland, and Poland. There is one exception to this. At the Windover Archaeological Site, near Titusville, Florida, 177 skeletal remains of Native Americans have been discovered in the peaty muck ponds, dating to the early archaic period (between 8000-5000 BCE).

Bog bodies are not all ancient, either. Although the oldest known example is that of the Koelbjerg Man (previously believed to be a woman until DNA testing in 2016), which belonged to a 25-year-old Danish individual who died around 8,000 BCE, there are some that are much more recent than that. For instance, the bodies of Russian soldiers killed in the Second World War have been unearthed in bogs in Poland.

Ballymacombs More Woman

Once the Bellaghy moor body was identified as being an ancient rather than criminal case, the police handed the investigation over to the National Museums of Northern Ireland, who have statutory responsibility for curating and caring for archaeological finds from the past. The museum then embarked on a year-long, cross-disciplinary and collaborative study of the remains that was completed in February 2025. This study has not only revealed more about the individual who died in the moor all those centuries ago, but also adds a little more to our understanding of life in Ireland during the Iron Age.

“This further research into the discovery initially revealed that what was first thought to be potentially a male aged between 13 and 17 years old, is most likely a female aged between 17 and 22 years old – the Ballymacombs More Woman as she has now become known, as per the naming convention applied to similar discoveries, which is the townland where the remains are found paired with the sex of the individual,” Baker explained. 

To date, around 130 bog bodies have been discovered in Ireland, most dating to the Iron or Bronze Age. Like those found elsewhere, most of these bodies have consisted of the preserved skin and organs of the deceased. This is because the conditions within the bogs can lead to bones becoming pliable or even dissolving over time. Although it is not a uniform phenomenon, it is pretty common. This is what makes the Ballymacombs More Woman a particularly important find, as she is almost the reverse of typical cases.

“[I]n contrast to many more familiar remains, [the Ballymacombs More Woman’s] skeletal material is in a more solid form,” Jen Gossman, Object Conservator, National Museums of Northern Ireland, told IFLScience. 

“It is usually seen that the mineral composition (potentially calcium phosphate and hydroxyapatite) of bone has been lost due to the acidic nature of peatland soils. This usually gives bog remains a higher collagen nature, meaning that the bones are structurally soft.”

In addition to having a harder, more mineralized structure to her bones than other bog bodies, the Ballymacombs More Woman also has far less flesh material. This, Gossman explains, “could indicate a different burial environment to other bog remains, or a unique burial process not often seen.”

Another strange feature of this case is the fact that the skull is missing. During an examination of the bones, an osteological archaeologist found evidence of cut marks on the individual’s neck vertebrae, suggesting they were deliberately decapitated. It is possible that this is part of a pattern of ritual killing and sacrifices made in bogs during the Iron Age.

The researchers also found a woven item of plant material beneath the body’s knees. This is extremely unusual, as plant matter rarely survives in the acidic conditions of peat bogs.

“Specialists are currently analysing the woven plant-based item to determine its material, structure, and potential purpose. While its exact function remains uncertain, it may offer further insight into Iron Age practices and material culture,” Baker added.

Preserving the past for the future 

The Ballymacombs More Woman provides an extraordinary glimpse into Iron Age society, including aspects around burials and potential ritualistic practices. The investigation into her remains is an ongoing process.

“We are currently working through stage three, minimally destructive sampling for DNA, dietary, and pathological analysis,” Baker added. “Isotopic and aDNA (ancient DNA) analysis may offer insight into her origins, movement, health, and diet, while forensic assessments could help determine information about the weapon used in her death.”

As we consider this important archaeological discovery, it is really important that we remind ourselves that Ballymacombs More Woman was once a person, just like us.

Niamh Baker

Following these results, the Ballymacombs More Woman’s remains will enter the final conservation phase, where the body will undergo a controlled drying process. This, Baker explained, will take about nine months to complete. 

“In parallel, we will be considering how best to share the findings from this research with our audiences, ensuring we remain aligned and consistent with our ethical responsibilities.”

The National Museums of Northern Ireland take the conservation and display of human remains extremely seriously. Their policies are informed by the Guidance for the Care of Human Remains in Museums produced by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. This is because, even in death, the remains of a person should be treated with dignity.

“As we consider this important archaeological discovery, it is really important that we remind ourselves that Ballymacombs More Woman was once a person, just like us,” Baker concluded.