Clonycavan Man is among the images on the Ancient Origins website to have offended Google’s sensibilities

They lay undiscovered for thousands of years before being dug up and put on display, but now Ireland’s bog bodies are at risk of being hidden again.

Ancient Origins, an archaeology website, says that Google has flagged 100 of its pages as “inappropriate material” because they include images of mummified bodies, nude statues and ancient battle scenes. It said the tech giant refuses to post advertisements on pages if they include images it deems unsuitable.

Ancient Origins said that it had changed images in more than 60 articles but refused to remove photographs of mummies because they were an essential part of ancient history that should not be censored. Among these were photographs of Cashel Man and Clonycavan Man, both well-preserved bodies found in bogs.