Archaeologists Find Grisly Evidence of Medieval Public Punishment
Researchers conducted a full bioarchaeological analysis on the remains of a woman, known as UPT90 sk 1278, who had been beaten to death and was originally unearthed in 1991.
"The burial treatment of UPT90 sk 1278 lets us know that her body was meant to be visible on the landscape, which could be interpreted as a warning to witnesses," said the study's lead author, Madeline Mant. "We can tell from the osteobiography that she was executed, but the specific offense is impossible to know for certain.'Mant and her team found that, as opposed to traditional burials of the time, the woman's body was not buried but left out in the open to decompose, likely as a warning to other residents of the community. Her body was placed in an area between the river and the shore, which would ensure her corpse would be alternately revealed and hidden by the tides. This was a location frequently chosen for those found to be 'socially deviant.' She had been placed between two sheets of bark on top of a reed mat with pads of moss affixed to areas on her face, which Mant believed to be symbolic gestures from her peers.The analysis revealed the woman, aged between 28 and 40 at the time of her death, had suffered 'dietary distress' at some point in her life, which the researchers believe to be related to childhood starvation or a drastic shift in diet. There were also signs that she had suffered as many as 50 'traumatic' injuries during two instances of violence which preceded her death, leaving her with blunt-force injuries to the torso and skull as well as a bilateral scapular fracture, which is often seen in car accident victims.
Mant believes the woman endured a particularly grisly death because rules surrounding crime and punishment were extremely nebulous during this period. "As time passed, more crimes were associated with the death penalty,' she explained. 'This was a time of legal evolution."Archaeologists Find Grisly Evidence of Medieval Public Punishment first appeared on Men's Journal on Jun 7, 2025
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
12 hours ago
- Yahoo
Trump Melts Down in Unhinged Revenge Rant: ‘They Must Pay'
President Donald Trump is once again pushing the widely disputed claim that Barack Obama attempted to stage a 'coup' after the 2016 election, and insists those involved 'must pay.' In a flurry of posts on Truth Social, the president has returned to his familiar playbook of trying to distract his MAGA base from the ongoing fallout of the Epstein files by repeating unfounded accusations against Obama and former U.S. intelligence officials who concluded Russia interfered in the 2016 election. 'The Russia, Russia, Russia HOAX is now TOTALLY UNDISPUTED! THE FACTS ARE ALL THERE, IN BLACK AND WHITE,' Trump posted Friday morning. 'It is the biggest scandal in American History. The perpetrators of this CRIME must pay a big price. This can never be allowed to happen in our Country again!' He then shared a video from The Daily Signal featuring right-wing historian Victor Davis Hanson accusing Obama-era intelligence leaders of conspiring to 'destroy' Trump after his victory over Hillary Clinton. 'They must pay for the crime of the Century,' Trump added. The renewed attacks stem from claims made earlier this month by Director of National Intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, who cited newly declassified documents to allege a 'treasonous conspiracy' by Obama and senior national security officials to fabricate Russian election interference in order to undermine the legitimacy of the results. Gabbard alleged that Obama, as well as national security officials, engaged in a 'treasonous conspiracy' by manufacturing evidence of Russian interference at the 2016 election, and therefore trying to undermine the legitimacy of the results. Gabbard accused Obama and his team of trying to lay the groundwork for 'what was essentially a years-long coup against President Trump' while presenting misleading information. Gabbard's claims rely heavily on an apparent contradiction regarding U.S. intelligence findings in Jan. 2017 that Russia ran an influence campaign to help Trump in 2016 and separate unfounded claims that Moscow successfully manipulated votes in favor of the Republcian. However, the Obama administration never claimed Russia changed vote totals or hacked voting machines. In 2020, a report by the bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee, which included the current Secretary of State Marco Rubio, also found that Russia had tried to help Trump's 2016 campaign. 'Nothing in the document issued last week undercuts the widely accepted conclusion that Russia worked to influence the 2016 presidential election but did not successfully manipulate any votes,' Obama's office said in response to Gabbard's allegations. Elsewhere, a number of Trump loyalists including Deputy White House Chief of Staff Dan Scavino have reacted with glee after declassified documents showed the FBI investigated intelligence reports alleging Clinton approved a plan to try and vilify Trump by linking him to Vladimir Putin ahead of the 2016 election. However, as noted by The New York Times, an annex to a 2023 report by Special Counsel John Durham suggests that this supposed approval from Clinton may have been out together by Russian spies. The Truth Social posts from Trump attacking Obama came as the president continues to dig himself deeper into the furore about what he knows about the crimes of Epstein, the billionaire pedophile who died in Aug. 2019. After years of claiming their friendship ended over a real estate dispute, Trump now says he cut ties with Epstein because the financier 'stole' young workers from Mar-a-Lago. 'He took people. I say, 'Don't do it anymore,' you know, they work for me,' Trump told reporters aboard Air Force One. 'He took some others. Once he did that, that was the end of him.' One of the women Trump alleged Epstein 'stole' from him was Virginia Giuffre, a sex trafficking victim of Epstein's who died via suicide in April.
New York Post
14 hours ago
- New York Post
9/11 veteran claims FDNY is cheating him out of benefits, pension
The FDNY is denying a decorated Army veteran and former fire marshal — who bravely served in Iraq and Afghanistan after 9/11 — his benefits and pension, he claims in a scathing new lawsuit. Leonard Draves, who toiled at Ground Zero to identify the remains of 343 fallen firefighters before being called to active US Army duty, alleges the FDNY is violating federal law protecting veterans, according to his $2 million suit. 'It was a very traumatic experience for me to go through that and be treated in such a horrible manner,' Draves, 64, said in an interview with The Post this week. While on the battlefield, the city mailed Draves a letter nixing his health insurance and pension — with two uniformed officials knocking on the door of his Queens home, terrifying his wife, he said. 'My wife — she thought it was a death notification — she was very distraught after that,' Draves said. 'I was away serving and they're harassing my family. I don't understand why.' Draves, who served in Afghanistan and Iraq from 2002 until 2019, argues he has the right to get his old job back under a US law that guarantees wartime soldiers their civilian jobs and benefits once discharged. But 'they wouldn't rehire me,' he said of the FDNY — adding that he is also being denied access to a critical 9/11 health program. 12 Former FDNY Fire Marshall and Army veteran Leonard Draves, 64, is suing the FDNY claiming they are in violation of a federal law by denying him re-employment and cancelling his FDNY and WTC worker benefits. Stephen Yang His suit, filed in Brooklyn federal court last month, accuses the fire department of 'discriminatory conduct' that 'was willful, wanton, and malicious, and showed reckless disregard for [Draves'] protected rights.' 12 Leonard Draves toiled at Ground Zero after 9/11 to identify the remains of 343 fallen firefighters before being called to active army duty, where he served as a commissioned officer on recall for 17 years. Matthew McDermott for NY Post Draves seeks to collect damages for lost pay and benefits in violation of a law called Uniformed Services Employment and Re-employment Rights Act — or USERRA — and to be allowed to participate in the World Trade Medical Monitoring Program. But an FDNY spokesperson said its actually Draves who owes the city $600,000 in salary payback. The spokesperson, who said the FDNY was reviewing the suit, claimed Draves collected two salaries while serving and never properly communicated that he enlisted full-time with the Army. His attorney, Peter Gleason, hit back that as a commissioned officer, Draves did not enlist but had 'an obligation to serve at the will of the US Army.' Gleason also noted that the Bloomberg-era payback deal — where 9/11-era reservists who collected both city and military salaries had to repay the lesser of the two when decommissioned — has a six-year statue of limitations. 'After multiple combat tours Lt. Col. Draves attempted to return to his civilian employment with the FDNY only to have the door slammed in his face,' said Gleason, himself a veteran of the fire department. 12 Draves began working for the FDNY in 1985, and was promoted to Fire Marshall in 1999. Courtesy of Leonard Draves 'To suggest that LTC Graves should have shirked his military obligation to pacify FDNY bureaucrats flies in the face of the FDNY mantra, 'Never leave a brother behind,'' said Gleason. And while the USSERA typically has a five-year limit, that restriction is ignored during call-ups in a time of war or national emergency, he noted. Draves grew up in Whitestone and attended both high school and the Transit Police Academy with Mayor Eric Adams. He worked as a transit cop for two years and joined the FDNY in 1985, getting promoted to fire marshal in 1999 — all the while remaining in the Army reserves as a lieutenant colonel. 12 Draves joined the NYC Transit Police in 1982 after serving with the Marines following high school. Courtesy of Leonard Draves 12 From 2002 to 2019, Draves served in Afghanistan and Iraq combat zones as a much-needed Lieutenant Colonel in the army. Courtesy of Leonard Draves 12 For nearly six months, Draves sifted through the remains of nearly 350 firefighters to help identify their bodies. Matthew McDermott 12 Draves, in blue, fires his M4 carbine during a surprise Taliban attack at ISAF Headquarters in Kabul. Courtesy of Leonard Draves He worked to identify the remains of the fallen firefighters and the one fire marshal lost on Sept. 11, 2001— a traumatic task that involved removing the bodies of his fallen brothers from their bunker gear, taking fingerprints and recovering remains and any personal artifacts. Despite wearing industrial Tyvek suits, Draves said he came home every night covered with 'the stench of death.' 'It was a very, very tough time,' he said. 12 While the city and FDNY sent him a letter Stephen Yang In February 2002, he got the call up to serve with the Army reserves — so he filled out the proper paperwork with the FDNY and shipped out, according to his lawsuit, first to Afghanistan, then to Iraq where he trained local police to handle deadly IEDs that were killing scores of allies. 'Getting called out to defend the country after 9/11, it was an honor,' Draves said. 12 For nearly 6 months, Draves worked to identify the remains of fallen FDNY workers. Matthew McDermott With a shortage of commissioned officers, Draves said he was recalled to the regular Army, extending his service until he was discharged. But while he was dodging Taliban bullets, the FDNY was getting ready to fire a salvo of their own, his lawsuit claims. In 2010, shortly after his recall, Draves got a letter from the city saying he and his family were getting booted from their health insurance and the FDNY pension system, the suit states. 12 While Draves (in blue shirt) was dodging bullets and rockets during repeated attacks in Kabul, the city and FDNY sent him a letter telling him he and his family were being dumped from the FDNY's health insurance and pension system, according to his suit. NATO At the same time in Queens, a pair of uniformed city officials 'banged' on the doors of the family home in an apparent attempt to locate him — terrifying his wife and four kids, Draves claims. His family had to 'scramble' to get on a military insurance plan, said Draves. 12 Draves said the letter sent him and his family into a panic, and 'it did distract me from the mission.' Courtesy of Leonard Draves 'My family suffered,' he said. 'It was painful, and it did distract me from the mission.' After his honorable discharge in 2019, Draves went for his medical review to re-enter the FDNY at the MetroTech Medical Center. But in the middle of his physical, Draves said, he was kicked to the curb when the fire chief of the medical center told him he'd been gone too long, and he 'had to leave.' 12 'Thank God for the VA — they really got me through this,' Draves said. 'They take care of their brothers.' Stephen Yang A promised follow-up never happened — a 'constructive termination,' the lawsuit claims. Draves is still denied access to the FDNY's WTC Health Program for his 9/11-related illnesses as a certified first-responder, the suit states. Due to the ordeal and alleged mistreatment, Draves said, 'I couldn't bear going back' to the fire department. 'Thank God for the VA (Veterans Affairs) — they really got me through this,' he said. 'They take care of their brothers.'
New York Post
15 hours ago
- New York Post
Shroud of Turin didn't wrap Jesus' crucified body — it was just art, new research claims
This holy linen's origins remain shrouded in mystery. Contrary to popular belief, the sacred Shroud of Turin was not used to cover Jesus' post-crucifixion and was actually a recreation created by artists, per a study published in the journal Archaeometry. 'The Shroud's image is more consistent with an artistic low-relief representation than with the direct imprint of a real human body,' Brazilian 3D digital designer Cicero Moraes, who used modeling software wrote in the paper, per the Daily Mail. Advertisement The legendary linen, which measures 14.5 feet by 3.7 feet, is one of the world's most iconic religious relics. The artifact is emblazoned with the visage of a crucified man, which penitents and religious scholars believe was formed when the shroud was used to wrap the Messiah's bloody body after he was taken off the cross 2,000 years ago. 4 Moraes various 3D simulation tools to digitally drape both bodies, before comparing the virtual fabric to photos of the Shroud snapped in 1931 — a forensic 'wrap' battle of sorts. Cicero Moraes However, skeptics have disputed the theory, citing a carbon dating analysis that placed the shroud's creation between 1260 to 1390 — a time when low-relief sculptures of religious figures were prevalent, especially on tombstones according to PBS. Advertisement But was the shroud Jesus' actual post-crucifixion cloth or a Medieval hoax? Moraes has seemingly settled the longstanding debate after using the aforementioned tech to scientifically prove that the Shroud of Turin couldn't have been used to swaddle JC. 4 'The Shroud's image is more consistent with an artistic low-relief representation than with the direct imprint of a real human body,' said Moraes while discussing the Shroud Of Turin (pictured). Getty Images To determine whether the cloth skewed more form or religious function, the virtual wizard devised two digital models: a 3D human body and a low-relief representation of the human form, Livescience reported. Advertisement He then used various 3D simulation tools to digitally drape both bodies, before comparing the virtual fabric to photos of the Shroud snapped in 1931 — a forensic 'wrap' battle of sorts. The virtual forensicist was reportedly building on a previous experiment where he just virtually covered a 3D body double without the low relief version. 4 The archbishop of Turin Severino Poletto attends the Solemn Exposition Of The Holy Shroud on April 10, 2010 in Turin, Italy. Getty Images Through this digital game of dressup, Moraes discovered that the low-relief recreation was an exact match for the pictures, while the 3D iteration was far from form-fitting. In the latter, the fabric deformed around the body in a phenomenon he analogized to the 'Agammemnon Mask Effect,' named after the preternaturally wide gold death face covering that was exhumed from a tomb in Greece. Advertisement 4 An archive negative image of the Shroud of Turin (L) is shown next to one recreated by an Italian scientist and released in Pavia October 5, 2009. REUTERS One can think of the phenomenon like painting one's face and pressing it into a piece of cloth. The resultant imprint is distorted and warped and looks almost nothing like a person's real countenance, making it unlikely that the immaculate Jesus image on the Shroud was his actual face print. Therefore, Moraes theorized that the shroud was not the genuine artifact used to clothe Jesus but was rather approximated via a shallow carving. 'The image on the Shroud of Turin is more consistent with a low-relief matrix,' he told Livescience. 'Such a matrix could have been made of wood, stone or metal and pigmented — or even heated — only in the areas of contact, producing the observed pattern.' Although he hinted at the remote possibility that the work was an 'imprint of a three-dimensional human body.' Much like the Jesus gravestone reliefs popular in the Middle Ages, Moraes believed that the Shroud was a funerary work, making it 'a masterpiece of Christian art.' Nonetheless, plenty of researchers maintain that the Shroud's image was formed by the actual body, er, face of Christ. Advertisement University of Padua professor Giulio Fanti asserted in a study that the Shroud of Turin offered legitimate proof of Jesus Christ's crucifixion wounds due to the blood stain patterns. Fanti posited that 'the different directions of blood flow from the side wound are discussed, the probable presence of pulmonary fluid,' and 'some bloodstains' point to trauma suffered by the Savior.
