Overview
- Researchers announced Monday that a detailed reanalysis of Skeleton 150 used microscopy, radiography, micro‑CT and 3D scanning to map roughly 167 fractures across the bones.
- The remains show more than 60 skull fractures, a crushed shoulder complex and fractures in nearly every rib, a pattern the team interprets as most consistent with a single high‑velocity blunt impact to the back of the head and shoulder.
- Radiocarbon dating places the individual about 620–770 years old, a range that centers near 1304 when Edward I besieged Stirling and commissioned the large trebuchet known as War Wolf, but the researchers say tying the death to that specific machine is tentative.
- Skeleton 150 was originally excavated in 1997 beneath the royal chapel at Stirling Castle and buried with eight others, a burial context that fits a siege scenario but does not on its own prove cause of death.
- The team says the case highlights how advanced imaging can reveal unusual medieval trauma and may prompt reexamination of other remains, while Historic Environment Scotland and the researchers warn that definitive proof of a trebuchet strike or the exact weapon remains unresolved.