Archive · 31 Aug 2026
14th-Century Skeleton May Reveal First Confirmed Trebuchet Victim
Stirling Castle was attacked during a war in 1304.
Scientists studied a skeleton found beneath the castle’s chapel.
The bones had many unusual breaks.
The breaks looked like injuries from a very fast and powerful crash.
The researchers think a large stone thrown by a trebuchet may have caused them.
A trebuchet was a medieval machine used to throw heavy rocks.
The person may have been a young defender running for safety.
Scientists cannot prove that the famous Warwolf machine caused the injuries.
Skeleton 150 was found beneath Stirling Castle’s royal chapel during a 1997 excavation.
Researchers identified unusual zigzag fractures consistent with a high-speed, high-force impact.
They suggest a trebuchet projectile may have struck the person during the 1304 siege.
The victim was likely a castle defender in his 20s or early 30s who died instantly.
Researchers are not certain whether the projectile came from Edward I’s massive Warwolf trebuchet.
- Who
- Researchers Jo Buckberry and Patrick Randolph-Quinney studied Skeleton 150, who was likely a castle defender in his 20s or early 30s.
- What
- A skeleton with severe fractures may be the first confirmed archaeological victim of a trebuchet projectile.
- When
- The injuries are believed to date to the 1304 siege of Stirling Castle; the research was presented earlier this month at a Paleopathology Association meeting in Berlin.
- Where
- Skeleton 150 was found beneath the royal chapel at Stirling Castle in Scotland, and the findings were presented in Berlin, Germany.
- Why
- Researchers concluded that the complex fractures were best explained by a heavy, fast-moving projectile striking the person.
Trebuchet-impact interpretation
Uncertainty about the precise cause
Cause of the fractures
Trebuchet-impact interpretation
Buckberry and Randolph-Quinney say the unusual fractures are most consistent with blunt-force trauma from an extremely heavy, fast-moving projectile.
Uncertainty about the precise cause
The researchers considered other possibilities, including a fall from the castle walls, and acknowledge that the evidence does not prove exactly what caused the injuries.
Connection to the Warwolf
Trebuchet-impact interpretation
The siege records show that trebuchets were used, and the Warwolf was built and field-tested during the assault, making it a possible source of the projectile.
Uncertainty about the precise cause
Researchers are not certain that Skeleton 150 was struck by the Warwolf itself, and no historical account specifically records this injury at Stirling Castle.
- Skeleton designation
- Skeleton 150
- Excavation year
- 1997
- Historical event
- The 1304 siege and English capture of Stirling Castle
- Burial location
- Beneath the castle’s royal chapel
- Injury pattern
- Complex zigzag fractures associated with a high-speed, high-force impact
- Likely weapon
- A trebuchet-launched projectile, probably a stone
- Possible machine
- The Warwolf, a very large trebuchet built and tested during the siege