Scottish

A skeleton found beneath Stirling Castle in Scotland may be the earliest-known archaeological victim of a trebuchet. Researchers say the remains of a man aged between 22 and 34 bear more than 160 blunt-force fractures, probably caused by one high-velocity impact during Edward I’s siege of the fortress in 1304. A Body Marked by one Devastating Blow The discovery began in 1997, when excavations beneath the castle’s chapel uncovered nine burials. Jo Buckberry of the University of Bradford and Patrick Randolph-Quinney of Uppsala University re-examined all nine individuals, presenting the Skeleton 150 study at the 25th European Paleopathology Meeting in Berlin on 5 August 2026. The wider group was examined for trauma linked to the Scottish Wars of Independence. Their