Scientists from the University of Siena and the University of Insubria found that in 2006, a man whose skeleton was found in a church in northern Italy was brutally killed with swords in the back about 700 years ago. Research published Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports.
Archaeologists discovered the victim’s skeleton in 2006 in the church of San Biagio in Chittilo, a small town in the northern Italian province of Varese. In the new study, scientists analyzed the man’s remains using modern forensic techniques, including 3D X-ray scanning and digital microscopy of skull injuries, and reconstructed his appearance.
The man lived in the XI-XIII centuries and was from 19 to 24 years old at the time of the murder. He took four blows to the head with the sword. The initial wound was light enough, but then when he tried to escape, he was done. The killer stabbed him in the back. Eventually, the man, presumably exhausted and lying on his face, received a final blow to the back of his head that caused instant death.
According to the authors, the brutality and multiple blows point to a complex motive for the murder: The attacker was determined to finish his “job.” All injuries were done by the same bladed weapon and the attacker acted alone.
A healed scar on the man’s forehead indicates his combat experience, and features of his right scapula suggest frequent archery from an early age. Researchers have not been able to identify the victim, but the burial site suggests he may have been a member of the powerful De Sitillio family that built the church.