When nature isn’t “natural”: Reflections on World Wetlands Day

In 1821, peat cutters discovered a body similar to a mummy, pinned down by two wooden stakes deep in the mud. The body’s face still held red hair and a beard, their teeth were well preserved, and a hoop of willow was wrapped around their throat. But this wasn’t the dry, hot climate of Egypt but a cold and rain-sodden bog of Ireland.

Later assessment suggested that these were the remains of a young man, and the likely victim of human sacrifice over 2000 years ago. A member of an ancient peatland community. The peat cutters were looking at a progenitor to their labour; a heritage of knowledge and practice which reached out to them from the past.

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