Get unlimited access to everything VICE has to offer.

Turn off all ads on VICE.com

Exclusive New VICE Documentaries

Member Exclusive Features & Columns

Turn off all ads on VICE.com

Exclusive New VICE Documentaries

Member Exclusive Features & Columns

Turn off all ads on VICE.com

Exclusive New VICE Documentaries

Member Exclusive Features & Columns

4 Magazines Delivered to Your Door

Archaeologists Finally Figured Out How a Medieval Man Got Severe Car Crash Injuries 700 Years Ago

His remains were absolutely wrecked by more than 160 fractures, including 61 breaks in the skull.

Share on X (Opens in new window)X

Share on Facebook (Opens in new window)Facebook

Share using Native toolsShareCopied to clipboard

For as devastating as a direct hit from a trebuchet seems like it would be, archaeological evidence has never provided much proof that any one person was killed by one. Logic dictates that somebody must have been. We just never had much direct evidence…until now.

As reported by Science and presented by University of Bradford bioarchaeologist Jo Buckberry at the 25th European Meeting of the Paleopathology Association in Berlin, Skeleton 150 may be the first definitive archaeological evidence of a person killed by a trebuchet. And the poor guy was obliterated. His top half, at least.

The skeleton was discovered beneath........

© Vice