Bog Bodies

[Rex Somnorum]

I might be a bit of a dullard but... isn't it possible that bog bodies were victims of...criminal violence? Dragged off in a raid, or just way-laid going about their business by criminal bands? Murdered sadistically for kicks and then unceremoniously dumped in the bog. That's what 'overkill' says to me. Torture victims generally have multiple pre-morterm wounds after all.

Could that account for all the bog bodies, though? And shouldn't there be more signs of a struggle on the victims' bodies?

On another note, I find it strange that so little is known about early Ireland despite the vast swathes of peat. Perhaps the sparse archaeological record stems from a small populace. Are there any reliable data or estimates for the population of Iron Age Ireland? We should at least be able to infer a cap on population from the subsistence methods and available land.