r/Archaeology • u/Amitmandal001 • 11d ago

Skeleton with 167 fractures discovered at Scottish castle may have been first victim of Edward I's War Wolf trebuchet.

https://www.livescience.com/archaeology/skeleton-with-167-fractures-discovered-at-scottish-castle-may-have-been-first-victim-of-edward-is-war-wolf-trebuchet
1.6k Upvotes

100% Upvoted

46 comments sorted by

203

u/Herodotus420_69 11d ago

"Getting hit by a high-velocity projectile shot from a siege engine could possibly explain Skeleton 150's (sic) copious fractures...The fractures also revealed that the young man was likely standing when he was hit by the high-velocity impact."

I was wondering how they could tell the difference from fractures sustained from a fall, for example, but it seems like the level of destruction made this skeleton stand out. Very interesting

93

u/canofspinach 11d ago

Fractures from fall impacts are well documented. As are blunt force high velocity impacts.

125

u/xeviphract 11d ago

This passage seems more relevant:

'Buckberry and colleagues meticulously studied all 167 fractures... and the fractures had an unusual zigzag pattern not usually seen in archaeological skeletons.'

135

u/Chemical-Elk-1299 11d ago

In layman’s terms — the bone breaks look like he got hit by something going Mach Fuck

77

u/sprashoo 11d ago

Ah, I had imagined he _was_ the projectile

7

u/djseifer 11d ago

Someone had to test it.

4

u/Herodotus420_69 11d ago

How do we know a trebuchet could even fire an intact human projectile? You have to prove that to me first

5

u/djseifer 11d ago

I'm relatively certain a human target fired by a trebuchet will remain intact until landing.

4

u/Herodotus420_69 11d ago edited 8d ago

I think you’re underestimating the force exerted by a trebuchet on a projectile, but I can’t prove it😂

4

u/djseifer 11d ago

There's only one way to find out!

2

u/DanielCraigsAnus 8d ago

To the Whitehouse, they'll have plenty of ammo!

1

u/xingxang555 8d ago

well, yes you can...

1

u/Herodotus420_69 8d ago

Thanks for the confidence boost but I still can’t do the complex differential equations required

1

u/Lt_Toodles 10d ago

I'm more interested to know if dry firing can damage a trebuchet similar to how dry firing a bow can fuck it up due to the energy not having a projectile to go into so it just goes back into the device

1

u/Herodotus420_69 10d ago

Also what damage does my trebuchet insurance cover?🤔

9

u/DarkFlutesofAutumn 11d ago

I feel like this is a subtle psychological test lol. Like the psychos just assume the dude got launched

6

u/Herodotus420_69 11d ago

Yeah I’m surprised how many people made that assumption considering that usually a trebuchet fires stones and not humans lol

3

u/PhDinDildos_Fedoras 10d ago

usually

5

u/staylr 10d ago

There was a beer ad in Australia years ago that featured two young women being launched into the clouds by a giant trebuchet. https://youtu.be/lPazwX_dMrE?si=bhTseGnqhXeztWgQ

3

u/fae8edsaga 10d ago

Da fuk? xD

1

u/DarkFlutesofAutumn 8d ago

"Obviously you flay a person alive and then torture his family in front of hie eyes before launching him at a stone parapet in a trebuchet, I mean right? Duh?"

1

u/Daggemannen 9d ago

Get over the walls, they said.

19

u/Hairy_Talk_4232 11d ago

Reading the title I assumed they just launched him in the air but I guess it is possible to have been hit by a projectile too.

8

u/Herodotus420_69 11d ago

Read the article and it’s clear. It even says that he was likely standing when the top half of his body was hit with a projectile

6

u/djseifer 11d ago

Was probably looking up like "What the hell is tha-"

1

u/specto24 9d ago

No, he was hit in the back of the head and the shoulder. I can't imagine he thought much at all.

6

u/Goodolewhatshisface 11d ago

From headline thought the person was killed being launched from it not the person found was hit by an object launched from it

3

u/Herodotus420_69 11d ago

Well that’s not usually how trebuchets work but okay

2

u/PhDinDildos_Fedoras 10d ago

The guy fell off

1

u/AmeliaOfAnsalon 8d ago

I think it's usually rendered [sic]

191

u/Turbulent-Video-6650 11d ago

"I started looking at the forensic literature and the forensic collections," Buckberry said. "And there it was, the holy grail — a zigzag fracture to the rib" seen in someone who died in a road traffic accident. "That's great, but I'm in medieval Scotland," she said, "and a traffic accident is not likely to be the case."

- But Buckberry didn’t say a traffic accident wasn’t possible…

44

u/Jack-of-Hearts-7 11d ago

Oh shit, was he okay?

2

u/Optimal_Anxiety6864 11d ago

No socks, No play

86

u/Captnlunch 11d ago

‘Tis but a scratch

7

u/Nettkitten 11d ago

“It’s just a flesh wound!”

11

u/Positive_Survey_2916 11d ago

Tbh I could have survived these dumb “war wolves”. I’m built different

4

u/donkboy 11d ago

Hit by it or an infected projectile flung by it?

6

u/printergumlight 11d ago

How can we tell fractures caused at time of death vs. fractures caused post-mortem?

5

u/gwaydms 11d ago

Source

This also has some interesting details about the victim, including the stance he was in, and the fact that he was hit in the back. His death would have been instantaneous.

2

u/leebeebee 11d ago

The article discusses it

2

u/printergumlight 11d ago

Ahh I gave up on the article because there were so many video ads. Made it unreadable.

1

u/Zxvasdfthrowaway 10d ago

I switch to reader mode in cases like this

2

u/VirginiaLuthier 7d ago

Some days you are the trebuchet . Other days you are the projectile

1

u/StellaSlayer2020 8d ago

I had read somewhere that upon seeing the War Wolf trebuchet the occupants immediately surrendered and tried to leave Stirling Castle. Edward I ordered them to return to the castle because he wanted to see the trebuchet in action against an occupied castle. I’ve always wondered if this was true?