First Confirmed Trebuchet-Related Death Revealed from 14th-Century Siege

Archaeologists excavating beneath Stirling Castle’s chapel uncovered the remains of a young Scottish male, designated Skeleton 150, whose bones bear more than 160 blunt-force fractures, including a skull shattered by 61 separate breaks. The pattern and freshness of the injuries indicate a peri-mortem event, leading researchers to identify the trauma as the first archaeologically confirmed death caused by a trebuchet projectile.

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The skeleton dates to the 1304 CE siege of Stirling Castle, when King Edward I of England commissioned the massive “War Wolf” trebuchet to break the last stronghold of an independent Scotland. Contemporary accounts claim the engine could hurl stones the size of a human torso, and historians note that Edward I deployed at least 17 such machines during the campaign. Construction of the War Wolf reportedly required five master carpenters and fifty assistant laborers over three months.

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Jo Buckberry, head of the University of Bradford’s Biological Anthropology Research Centre (BARC), led the investigation, employing 3D X-ray micro-computed tomography, traditional X-rays, and microscopic imaging to map each fracture. Lukas Waltenberger, a forensic osteologist at Vilnius University who was not involved in the study, reviewed the findings and described the case as “convincing” in a statement to *Science*.

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• Over 160 distinct bone-crushing injuries, with the skull alone showing 61 fractures.

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• Approximately 60 rib cracks and a jagged, zig-zag break across the right shoulder.

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• Fracture distribution suggests a single, high-velocity impact focused on the right shoulder and back of the cranium, consistent with a projectile striking a living individual whose forearms were flexed and weight borne on the lower limbs.

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Buckberry emphasized that while siege engines are well documented, this case provides the inaugural physical proof of trebuchet-induced trauma in the archaeological record. She noted the rarity of comparable forensic examples, cautioning that the novelty of the find leaves some interpretive uncertainty. Nonetheless, she expressed optimism that further study of blunt-force injuries will deepen understanding of medieval battlefield injuries.

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• “While the use of siege engines is well documented, we believe this is the first evidence of trebuchet trauma in the archaeological record,” — Vilnius University, of Bradford archaeologist Jo Buckberry

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• “Patterning of fractures indicates that the focus of impact was around the right shoulder and the back of the cranium, with higher fragmentation in this area,” — Jo Buckberry, who serves as head of Bradford’s Biological Anthropology Research Centre (BARC)

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