SUMMARYResearchers examining human remains beneath the chapel of Stirling Castle in Scotland identified a medieval siege victim known as Skeleton 150. The man’s bones show catastrophic injuries consistent with being struck by a trebuchet-launched boulder, including dozens of skull and rib fractures, a broken shoulder, and a shattered leg. Jo Buckberry of the University of Bradford presented the findings at the 25th European Meeting of the Paleopathology Association.
During a medieval siege, a trebuchet scored a chance hit on one unlucky defender. A small boulder slammed into his upper back at close to 300 kilometers an hour, smashing bones and crushing him beneath its weight.
The man’s skeleton lay beneath the chapel of Scotland’s Stirling Castle, along with the remains of several other people who had clearly died violent deaths. But this one, known to us only as Skeleton 150 (or as “trebuchet guy” in your faithful correspondent’s notes), stood out even among that battle-damaged crowd because most of his upper body had been shattered. According to University of Bradford paleopathologist Jo Buckberry, who presented her research at the 25th European Meeting of the Paleopathology Association last week, Skeleton 150 is the only known trebuchet casualty in history.
A shattered skeleton
Skeleton 150 was in terrible shape, even for a dead guy. The man’s skull had broken in 61 separate places, and another 60 jagged bits of bone were distributed across his ribs. His right shoulder was broken, and his right leg above the knee was basically shattered.