14 DAY TRIAL // Last winter, a storm hit the town of Sligo in Ireland. The storm was so strong that it uprooted a massive 200-year-old tree and unearthed a skeleton buried under it during the Middle Ages.
The discovery was announced by Sligo-Leitrim Archaeological Services, a consultancy specializing in archaeological impact assessments and research, only last week.
The skeleton, dating back to around 1030 to 1200 AD, belongs to a man who was between 17 to 20 years old when he died. Who this man was, however, remains a mystery for now.
Having examined his remains, researchers found evidence that he was killed in an attack. Thus, cut marks are visible on the young man's ribs and on one of his hands.
Whether he was injured in a proper battle or perhaps he was simply attacked is yet to be determined. “We don't know whether he died in a battle or whether this was a case of a personal dispute that ended in death,” explains researcher Marion Cowd.
The skeleton is in pretty bad shape
While growing atop the medieval skeleton, the tree under which the remains were found sunk its roots deep into the bones. Hence, when the tree was uprooted, the skeleton was broken in half.
Trapped in the tree's roots, the upper part of the skeleton, including part of the skull and the spinal column, was pulled from the ground and lifted into the air during the storm.
The legs, however, remained buried. Photos of the bones trapped in the tree's roots and the bones that remained buried were released by the Sligo-Leitrim Archaeological Services when announcing the find are available in the gallery below.
“The upper part of the skeleton was raised into the air trapped within the root system. The lower leg bones, however, remained intact in the ground. Effectively as the tree collapsed, it snapped the skeleton in two,” says archaeologist Marion Cowd, as cited by DM.
Whether killed in battle or perhaps simply attacked and murdered, the man was given a proper Christian burial by his family. He was laid to rest in a grave, his body was arranged in an east-west position, and his hands were carefully folded over his pelvic region.
