1,000-Year-Old Murder Mystery – Hidden Ancient Skeleton Of Murdered Man Exposed After Violent Storm

MessageToEagle.com – The skeletal remains of a man thought to have been slashed to death were discovered entangled in the roots of a tree that blew over during violent storms.

The corpse, believed to be around 900 years old, was ripped in half when the Birch tree fell over in Collooney, County Sligo, in the Republic of Ireland.

His legs were left in the ground, while the upper body, including the skull and spine, was submerged beneath the roots of the tree which were left exposed above ground after the storm.

Scientists believe he was a young man from the Medieval period who met a grisly end as he tried to flee an attacker or attackers.

They have deduced this from cut marks in his ribs and hands, which indicate he tried to defend himself as he was stabbed in the torso.

The tree, aged 215 years, grew on his grave hundreds of years after the death, but blew over in strong winter storms last year, but details of the gruesome discovery have just been released.

The National Monuments Service asked Sligo-Leitrim Archaeological Services (SLAS) to retrieve the badly disturbed remains.

Dr Marion Dowd of SLAS said: “Effectively as the tree collapsed, it snapped the skeleton in two.

“We don’t know whether he died in a battle or whether this was a case of a personal dispute that ended in death.”

Radiocarbon dating procedures said his age was between 17 and 20.

He died in the 11th or 12th century.

At 5ft 10in, he was tall for his day when the average man was just 5ft 5in, and it is believed he may have been a labourer from an early age due to spinal wear and tear.

However, they think he received a Christian burial, as he was placed in an east-west position with hands folded over the pelvix.

Records from the nineteenth century say there was a church with graveyard in the area, but other physical evidence of burials has been found.

MessageToEagle.com

Source:

Express UK

Belfast Telegraph