BERLIN — A 14th-century skeleton riddled with fractures may be the oldest known evidence of a death by trebuchet, or "siege engine," new research finds. The individual, a medieval man whose remains were found inside Stirling Castle in Scotland, may have even been the victim of a famous trebuchet called the "War Wolf" built on the orders of the king of England.
The young man's remains, which researchers call Skeleton 150, were discovered in the Stirling Castle chapel alongside seven other medieval burials in 1997. In medieval times, the vast majority of people were buried in their parish church cemetery, so finding eight skeletons underneath the royal chapel was a surprise, Jo Buckberry, a biological anthropologist at Bradford University in the U.K., said in a research presentation Aug. 5 at the 25th European Paleopathology Association meeting.
