Decapitated man buried near fort in Roman-era Scotland gets a new virtual face

Researchers have virtually reconstructed the face of a man who was decapitated after his death almost 2,000 years ago and then buried near a Roman military fort in Scotland.

While it’s unclear why the man was beheaded, other burials hundreds of miles away may offer a clue. A chemical analysis of the man’s remains suggests that he grew up in southern Britain. Beheading bodies may have been an obscure burial rite for some southern Britons, as other headless bodies from about the same time have been found in that region, John H. Reid, an archaeologist at the Trimontium Trust who was not involved in the excavations, told Live Science.

Another mystery is why a southern Briton was on the Roman frontier, but it seems that he was working for the Roman army when he died, researchers at National Museums Scotland said in a statement. However, his skeleton shows the man’s right arm had such limited movement that he could not have used a sword, so he was probably not a soldier, they added.

Despite this disability, however, it’s possible that the man used weapons in his other hand, or had a job in the Roman army that did not require frontline fighting, such as a clerk.

“He could have been left-handed, or he could have had a ‘desk job’,” said Reid, who is the author of the book “The Eagle and the Bear: A New History of Roman Scotland” (Birlinn, 2023).

The man was probably about 50 years old when he died between A.D. 142 and 165. His remains were then buried near the Roman fort at Inveresk, on Scotland’s east coast just southeast of what’s now Edinburgh, according to the statement.

An analysis of the man’s skeleton indicated that he had lived an active life. His nose had been broken and healed, and his right elbow showed extensive bone growth, perhaps from arthritis. Reid said the bone growth may have been his body’s response to a physical injury.

Researchers at National Museums Scotland and the independent U.K.-based forensic anthropologist Christopher Rynn created the facial construction based on the man’s skull.

Romans in Scotland

The Roman fort at Inveresk was built around A.D. 140 and acted as a command-and-supply center for Roman forts along the Antonine Wall, which ran along the shortest route between Scotland’s west coast and east coast — roughly the line between Glasgow and Edinburgh, although neither city existed at the time.

The Romans had hoped to secure all of Scotland under their rule after their invasion of Britain under Emperor Claudius in A.D. 43. They tried to impose control after their victory against a coalition of native Caledonian tribes at the Battle of Mons Graupius (possibly near the Scottish city of Perth) in about 83. But by about 120, the Romans had retreated to the heavily fortified line of Hadrian’s Wall, near the modern border of England and Scotland.

The fort at Inveresk was built for a second push that aimed to secure Roman control over southern Scotland by establishing the Antonine Wall. But this failed too, and after A.D. 162, the Romans withdrew again to Hadrian’s Wall, until the final collapse of Roman rule in Britain in the early fifth century.

Strange burial

Reid told Live Science that Scotland’s soil seldom preserved human skeletons, making the discovery of a Roman-era burial an uncommon find. Although the man had been decapitated after his death, other aspects of his grave indicated he was buried with dignity. In other words, his burial was unlike those of executed criminals, who were often decapitated in Roman-era Britain, he said.

The remains from six Roman-era burials have been found at Inveresk, and four of the dead had been similarly beheaded, the statement said.

There are several ways non-Romans could have served with the Roman army, Reid told Live Science. They might have been employed as servants or artisans attached to the Roman legions, or they might have been soldiers in Roman auxiliary units or even citizen-based legions, he said. By the time of the Antonine Wall, few members of the Roman army in Scotland would have been from the Italian peninsula, he added.

The chemical analysis looked at the ratios of isotopes, or variations of chemical elements, in the man’s remains. This analysis suggested that the man had grown up in southern Britain. Alternatively, he may have been recruited from a nearby region, such as the coast of what’s now the Netherlands, that gave the same isotopic profile, Reid said.

Reid and his colleagues have found extensive evidence of the Roman army at the Burnswark site in southern Scotland, including the deadly whistling sling bullets they used against their “barbarian” foes. Archaeological work there is ongoing.

What do you know about the Empire’s conquest of the British Isles? Find out with our Roman Britain quiz!