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Friday, August 21, 2009
3000 yr old bog butter? oh pshaw.
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I'm not sure, I was linked to that article via reddit.com, and when i saw that word I immediately googled it, now I'm here...
It comes from old Irish word: piseog - literal translation is "superstition," and has to do with sorcery as well - so I took it to mean the gift was left to appease whatever spirits were in the bog....
STATEMENT ISSUED ON BEHALF OF THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF IRELAND
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27 August 2009 Wooden vessel containing butter found at Gilltown Bog, Co. Kildare. In June 2009 a large wooden vessel containing butter was uncovered during peat milling at Gilltown bog Co. Kildare. This bog and the adjacent Timahoe bog have yielded a number of objects in the past including a Bronze Age spearhead, a section of a wooden wheel, wooden yokes and a portion of a bog body. The finders of the vessel, John Fitzharris and Martin Lanes immediately reported the find to the National Museum of Ireland and the object was taken into safekeeping. Over the course of the next few months the conservation department of the National Museum of Ireland will clean and conserve both the vessel and the butter, it is hoped that through further tests the species of the wood will be identified and the vessel dated through radiocarbon dating. The vessel, carved as a single piece from a length of trunk or large branch, weighs 35kg and consists of a cylindrical body 0.65m in height with a maximum diameter of 0.27m. The lid of the vessel fits between two projections, or lugs, on the rim and is secured in place by a tapper rod threaded through perforations in the lugs. The base, although still partially covered in peat, appears to be resting in a grove cut around the interior of the vessel. The body of the vessel, lid and base all display tool marks from either a knife, chisel, adze or axe. A fine organic material is apparent around the rim of the vessel and covering the top of the butter. Further tests will reveal the nature of this material. The almost complete vessel is a fine example of this vessel type and forms an invaluable addition to the national collection. Although as of yet undated the vessel is typologically similar to a number of vessels in the collection of the National Museum of Ireland, which have been dated to the Iron Age 500BC-500AD (1500-2500 years old). One such vessel from Rosberry, Co. Kildare, which has been dated to 400-350 BC, is on exhibition in the Kingship and Sacrifice section of the National Museum of Ireland-Archaeology- Kildare Street, Dublin. The exhibition, which includes the Baronstown West bog body also from Co. Kildare, is centred on a new theory that connects human sacrifice with sovereignty and kingship rituals during the Iron Age. Research has indicated that other material connected with these rituals include: items of regalia; items associated with equestrian procession; weapons; feasting utensils; boundary markers; items associated with corn and milk production, such as quern stones and butter deposits known as ‘bog butter’. |
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