'Worst possible way to die' found as archaeologists unearth sinister skeleton

Daily Record

07-06-2025

A skeleton unearthed by archaeologists shows the brutal and agonising torture that was inflicted upon the man before he was 'clumsily' beheaded in a horrifying discovery
History is littered with horrific deaths that would undoubtedly disturb most individuals today. Yet, from all the brutal and bizarre ways to die, one of the most excruciating has come to light through a recent archaeological discovery.
Published in the Journal of Archaeological Science, archaeologists at the University of Milan have uncovered the Medieval remains of a young man who appears to have succumbed after suffering a notoriously painful torture technique followed by an unsuccessful execution by beheading.
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The unfortunate youth met his demise between the ages of 17 and 20 during the 13th century and was buried in proximity to a cathedral in Milan, Italy.
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Initial examination of his remains indicated that he had sustained injuries across his arms and legs that were symmetrically inflicted, indicating intentional harm. Based on historical accounts, the researchers propose that the man underwent a form of torture known as "the wheel," identified also as the "breaking wheel" or "Catharine wheel".
The wheel was a ghastly method of capital punishment employed broadly throughout Europe into the beginning of the early modern era, around the 16th century, reports the Irish Star.
Accounts on the execution of this device differ according to period and place but commonly involved the progressive smashing and fracturing of a person's limbs, concluded by additional injury caused by the wheel itself.
In some accounts, torturers would start by dropping the heavy wooden wheel onto people's limbs, beginning with the shin bones and working their way up. Once the body was sufficiently battered, the broken limbs would be woven in and out of the wheel spokes or tightly fastened to it using a rope.
Further injuries were then inflicted – using either blades, blunt objects, fire, whips, or red-hot pincers – after which the wheel was mounted on a pole and displayed like a flag. The nearly dead victim would hang here for some time, perhaps days or weeks, until they eventually died or were mercifully executed.
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This brutal torture technique was most often used against those accused of heinous crimes, but in northern Italy, where this body was found, this kind of torture was usually reserved for persons suspected of spreading the plague.
"The victim of the wheel could have been considered as different by his contemporaries, and possibly this discrimination may have been the cause of his final conviction, as he could have been sacrificed, being a "freak", by an angry crowd, as a plague spreader," the researchers write.
As if this wasn't enough, forensic analysis of his skeleton also revealed unusual linear fractures at the base of his skull. This was most likely, the researchers say, the result of a sharp force trauma from a heavy weapon during a "clumsy decapitation."
If this theory of wheel torture is accurate, the researchers will have documented the first archaeological evidence of a human being tortured by the wheel, certainly in medieval northern Italy, if not the world.
One thing is for certain, this unfortunate individual did not have a pleasant last few days on Earth.