During An Excavation In England, Archaeologists Discovered A Long-Lost Grave Containing The Remains Of A Roman Slave Who Was Crucified 1,700 Years Ago And Had A Two-Inch Nail Hammered Into His Heel
Six years ago, archaeologists in England conducted an excavation in Fenstanton, where they came across a long-lost grave. Buried within the grave was the ancient skeleton of a man who died with a two-inch nail hammered through his heel.
His remains were found in Cambridgeshire three years ago, alongside more than 40 other individuals. An analysis revealed that the man was a Roman slave crucified 1,700 years ago during the third or fourth century A.D.
Recently, a forensic artist has used technology to recreate a digital approximation of the man’s face, offering a glimpse of what the second man to be discovered crucified in Roman Britain might have looked like when he was alive. The first was unearthed in Israel in 1968.
Researchers found that the man’s leg bones had been thinning, which indicated that he was likely chained to a wall for a considerable amount of time. He is estimated to have been five feet and seven inches tall and between the ages of 25 and 35 at the time of his death.
The bones of the other people he was buried with also showed signs that they had participated in hard manual labor throughout their lives.
A dozen iron nails and a “bier” were located next to the man’s skeleton. A bier is a wooden stand on which a corpse is placed before burial. Traditionally, crucifixions involved nailing a person’s limbs to wooden boards that formed the shape of a cross. But sometimes, Romans would tie the limbs in place with rope.
Slaves were often subjected to this cruel method of punishment after committing minor misdemeanors. Eventually, crucifixions were done away with by Constantine the Great in the fourth century A.D.
According to the University of Cambridge, the finding is the most well-preserved example of a crucifixion from the Roman era in the world.
To carry out the facial reconstruction, a forensic artist and professor at George Mason University in Virginia named Joe Mullins employed the use of CT scans of the man’s skull and computer software. Mullins often works with law enforcement to create reconstructions of crime victims’ faces.
Nicola – stock.adobe.com – illustrative purposes only
He likened the experience of rebuilding the enslaved man’s face to “putting an ancient jigsaw puzzle together.”
With some extra help from a genetic profile that researchers compiled using the man’s DNA, Mullins concluded that the man had brown eyes and brown hair. The additional information helped improve the accuracy of the facial approximation.
“One of the biggest surprises I always have while working on this kind of case is that this person was once a living human being,” said Mullins.
“Even though he was alive more than 1,000 years ago and died under horrible circumstances, he was still just a man. Although he wasn’t a pharaoh or king, he was just an everyday person, and I’m able to finally put a face to his story.”
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