Shattered Skull Details Gruesome Final Moments of a Medieval Murder Victim

12 January 2023
ByCARLY CASSELLA

Archaeologists used a battered skull, found in the crypt of a Medieval Italian church, to reconstruct a brutal scene that took place more than 800 years ago.

The skull belongs to a young male, and because he was buried in the San Biagio's main atrium, he is thought to be a member of the wealthy De Cittiglio family who owned the land the church was built on.
A life of privilege was apparently not enough to save him from murder, one he may have never even seen coming.

Researchers at the University of Siena and University of Insubria in Italy used four large lesions in the man's skull to determine a sequence of attack.

Physical examinations, three-dimensional digital microscopy, and CT scans of the bone can tell researchers the nature of an injury, the direction of an attack, and even the type of weapon that might have been used. In this case, the analysis suggests the initial attack came from behind and caused only a superficial cut in the bone at the back of the skull.

More:
https://www.sciencealert.com/shattered-skull-details-gruesome-final-moments-of-a-medieval-murder-victim