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Judi Lynn

(162,377 posts)
Sat Sep 4, 2021, 03:34 PM Sep 2021

8-foot-tall pagan idol unearthed in Irish bog

By Tom Metcalfe 1 day ago

Pagans carved it before Ireland converted to Christianity.



The 1,600-year-old wooden idol was found in a bog in County Roscommon in the west of Ireland. It seems to have been deliberately broken in two. (Image credit: John Channing/Archaeological Management Solutions)

A 1,600-year-old pagan idol, made from a wooden pole carved from an oak tree, has been unearthed in a bog in western Ireland.

Archaeologists say the idol dates to the very late stage of pagan Ireland, only about 100 years before the conversion of the Irish to Christianity during the mission of St. Patrick in the fifth century.

The idol appears to have been broken in two — a common practice with sacrificial objects, perhaps signifying that it was "dead" and could no longer be used — and deliberately deposited in the bog, maybe as a substitute for a human sacrifice or "bog body," according to the archaeologists.

The excavations show that the site in the rural area of Gortnacrannagh, in County Roscommon, was considered a pagan holy place for thousands of years, Eve Campbell, an archaeologist at Archaeological Management Solutions who led excavations at the site, told Live Science.

More:
https://www.livescience.com/pagan-idol-unearthed-ireland.html?utm_source=notification

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8-foot-tall pagan idol unearthed in Irish bog (Original Post) Judi Lynn Sep 2021 OP
I gotta wonder if they would have had a better trajectory with this idol? Evolve Dammit Sep 2021 #1
k & r -- thanks for posting obamanut2012 Sep 2021 #2
CNY has them beat by 2 feet whistler162 Sep 2021 #3
Fascinating! calimary Sep 2021 #4
Here's a toast to Saint Peat of Gortnacrannagh. yonder Sep 2021 #5
KNR and thank you. niyad Sep 2021 #6
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