Odd Story of the Day

I read this and thought it was not only interesting, but that it had one of the wierdest transitions in tone from the beginning to the end:

Ancient ‘bog men’ make fashion statement
One wore hair gel, the other ‘would have been a giant’ 2,300 years ago

LONDON - The 2,300-year-old remains of two men discovered in an Irish bog have revealed a couple of surprises — one used hair gel and the other stood 6-foot-6 (2 meters), the tallest Iron Age body discovered.

“He would have been a giant ... the other man was quite short, about 5 foot, 2 inches,” or 158 centimeters, said Ned Kelly, head of antiquities at the National Museum of Ireland.

“The shorter man appeared to attempt to give himself greater stature by a rather curious headdress which was a bit like a Mohican-style with the hair gel, which was a resin imported from France,” Kelly told BBC radio.

Bacterial conditions found in the peat bogs preserved the remains so that even fingerprints were clearly visible.

The fashion-conscious gel wearer has been named Clonycavan Man, and Kelly said the fact he was able to buy imported cosmetics suggests he was a wealthy member of Irish society about 2,300 years ago. The other was dubbed Oldcroghan Man.

Kelly said both men had been murdered.

“Oldcroghan Man was stabbed through the chest. He saw that attack coming because there is a defensive injury on his arm.”

He was then decapitated and his body cut in half, while Clonycaven Man had his head split open with an axe before he was disemboweled.

It is such a stark difference from their fashion statements to their (rather gruesome) deaths...