An ancient skeleton was discovered after Hurricane Ophelia hit Ireland.
The skeletal remains, believed to be at least 1,000 years old, were found intact at Kilmore Quay, County Wexford, after Ophelia-spawned waves hit a walkway, according to the Irish Daily Mirror.
“People out walking discovered the remains on Tuesday afternoon. The area has been sealed off since then,” Jim Moore, a local councilor, was quoted by the publication as saying. “It appears to be a grave, so in other words it is not a body that was washed ashore.”
An examination will be carried out by Ireland’s state pathologist, Marie Cassidy. The remains, she said, were likely from the Iron Age, which ended some 1,600 years ago.
Storm Ophelia unearths mystery ancient skeleton with parts of its SKIN intact https://t.co/5LGn1p9bJU pic.twitter.com/NPjEVQ7sez
— Daily Mail U.K. (@DailyMailUK) October 19, 2017
Mystery ancient Iron Age skeleton with skin still attached unearthed by raging winds of Storm Ophelia: https://t.co/7Ai7AX9Gr0 pic.twitter.com/XJXJS0ZL4f
— History (@HistoryTime_) October 20, 2017
The remains will be taken to Dublin for testing.
“It is the closest point to the sea,” Moore explained. “It is very remote and it now throws up the question whether there are more burial grounds in the area.”
The storm’s force slammed the country’s coastline, temporarily speeding up the erosion.
Storm Ophelia unearths ancient human skeleton with SKIN still intacthttps://t.co/3wUTNQGCKN via @MailOnline
— Paula woodhams (@WoodhamsPaula) October 20, 2017
“It is a very tidal area. Erosion is the reason this was found,” he said. “It left the site exposed and that’s how it was spotted.”
A similar incident unfolded in nearby Ballyteigue Bay two years ago. “That was another very old skeleton,” Moore said, adding that there’s no clear link “between the two.”
“We have to consider know whether there is a need for further archaeological examination,” he said.
Ophelia killed three people and did tens of millions of dollars in damage—it even turned the sky red.
According to the BBC, a man “died near Dundalk, [County] Louth, after his car was struck by a tree” while another man was killed “in a chainsaw accident in [County] Tipperary while attempting to remove a tree downed by the storm.”