The city of Dublin boasts some truly incredible museums, including its archaeological section of the National Museum of Ireland. This museum hosts some of the most incredible Bronze Age artifacts found across Europe, including intricate jewelry, stunning stone carvings, and some of the best-preserved bog bodies known to archaeologists. This article will introduce you to some of the most significant artifacts you should seek out on a visit there.
Bronze Age Gold Jewelry
This museum hosts some of the most stunning examples of late Bronze Age jewelry, and observing these amazing pieces, it is hard to imagine how complex the task of making these was with relatively limited technology. The fact that they have survived is also amazing, many of them were hidden away and buried for safekeeping, only to be rediscovered many thousands of years later.
Bog Bodies
The museum has displayed the bog bodies (human remains preserved in bogs) it holds in its collections in a very sensitive way, holding them at the center of spiral-like structures which feel like entering a tomb or sacred place. Still, seeing these human remains can be a moving experience and some visitors opt out, feeling that having these artifacts on display is disrespectful. If you do decide to visit the bog bodies display, you are certain to be awestruck by the preservation of these remains.
Bronze Age Carvings
There are several examples of intricate stone carvings in the museum. Some of these have been discovered submerged in bogs, whilst others were removed from their original locations and used in more modern buildings before being rescued and taken to the museum. Some of them were used as place or way markers, whilst others were used as decorative objects in dwellings.