A forensic artist has recreated the face of the only man known to have been crucified in England during Roman times, approximately 2,000 years ago, as discovered by researchers.
The face of the man punished by crucifixion. (Image: BBC)
An excavation in Fenstanton, Cambridgeshire, in 2017 uncovered the grave of this man, whose skeleton revealed a 5 cm nail driven through his heel, discovered in 2021. It is estimated that the man was about 170 cm tall and over 30 years old at the time of his death. The reason for his painful execution remains a mystery. Carbon dating estimates his time of death to be between 130 and 337 AD. At that time, the grave was located in a Roman settlement between Cambridge and Godmanchester.
The remains of the man were among dozens of skeletons found at a site designated for new housing development. This individual is the second known victim of crucifixion from the Roman period ever discovered in the world, the first being uncovered in Israel in 1968.
The process of reconstructing the man’s face was based on DNA and forensic information gathered from the remains. Professor Joe Mullins at George Mason University in Virginia, USA, led the reconstruction effort. Using DNA and isotopic information, Mullins and his team concluded that he likely had brown hair and brown eyes. The slender femur, along with signs of trauma and immobility, indicated that he was tortured through crucifixion.
Traditionally, crucifixion involved nailing the limbs to a wooden cross, but the Romans sometimes used ropes to bind the hands and feet instead. This was a brutal ancient method of slow punishment for both criminals and enslaved individuals who committed offenses. This form of punishment was ultimately abolished by Constantine I in the 4th century. The man from Cambridgeshire is believed to have been killed approximately 0.8 km from the cemetery that contained his grave.
Mullins believes this case is particularly interesting because of the wealth of information available. He noted that the issue lies with the skull, which was shattered into many pieces. When the remains were found, human osteologist Corinne Duhig at the Wolfson College of Cambridge described the skeleton as well-preserved, with the nail still embedded in the bone. This evidence suggests that even residents of a small village at the edge of the empire could not escape the most brutal forms of punishment.
