Peggy Hinsman's Blog

Ancient Items Found in Irish Bogs

Bogs preserve items that are buried in the peat, due to the acidic level of the water in bogs (a pH level of 3.2 – 4.2) and the percentage of water in the bogs (95%). The objects are preserved by the remarkable properties of Sphagnum Moss.  Sphagnum Moss is what makes the water acidic by exiting its H⁺ ions to the bog water so it can import more nutritious positive ions from the bog water, Potassium and Calcium.  Only up to 10% of items that aren’t alive in the bogs decompose. 90% or more do not decompose, which preserves all of the non-living items in the bogs.

One of the most frequently found preserved items in Irish bogs is Bog Butter.  In the 4th century AD, there were no refrigerators to keep butter and lard from melting during the summer when the temperatures got warm.  Butter and lard were put into wooden barrels and buried into the bogs to preserve them during the summer.  Over 270 Bog Butter barrels have been found in the Irish bogs.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Many preserved dead bodies have been found with their skin and organs intact.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Several ancient books have been found in the bogs.  To preserve them, they are often put into leather case.  This Book of Psalms was discovered in an Irish bog in 2006 by a person who was plowing peat in the bog.  The leather case in which it was originally placed was found close to this book.