Stirling Castle Skeleton Shows 160 Fractures as First Known Trebuchet Trauma Evidence
Updated
Updated · Smithsonian Magazine · Aug 14
Stirling Castle Skeleton Shows 160 Fractures as First Known Trebuchet Trauma Evidence
3 articles · Updated · Smithsonian Magazine · Aug 14
Summary
Archaeologists say a man excavated at Stirling Castle suffered more than 160 fractures at or around death, marking what researchers call the first archaeological evidence of trebuchet trauma.
Radiocarbon dating places the skeleton in the 1296-1357 Wars of Scottish Independence, and the injury pattern—crushing blows to the skull, ribs and right shoulder without sword wounds—points to a high-velocity stone impact.
Jo Buckberry of the University of Bradford said the man, aged 22 to 34, was likely killed instantly after being struck from behind by a large projectile launched during Edward I's 1304 siege of the castle.
Whether the fatal shot came from Edward's giant War Wolf trebuchet is unproven, but Buckberry called that scenario quite likely; an outside forensic osteologist told Science the evidence appears convincing.
The finding ties a rare individual death to the three-month siege of Stirling, the last major Scottish stronghold before Edward forced its surrender and briefly crushed the independence movement.