Active and strenuous lifestyle could have caused degenerative bone diseases in man who died nearly 1,000 years ago

An Anglo-Scandinavian man was one of ten skeletons found at Lincoln Castle in 2013© Courtesy University of Dundee
Caroline Erolin, an expert from the University of Dundee’s renowned centre for human anatomy, disaster victim identification and forensic and medical art, said the man’s skull had been excellently preserved by his position under an important sarcophagus burial, making it “the best candidate” for reconstruction out of ten skeletons found at the castle.

The remains were found in a previously unknown Saxon church© Courtesy University of Dundee
“Osteological analysis identified the skeleton as that of a man aged between 36 and 45 years old.

The castle was used as the county gaol from the 18th century© Courtesy University of Dundee
“High-precision radiocarbon dating indicates he died between 1035 to 1070, just before the Norman Conquest.

Archaeologists took a day to fully unearth the late Saxon sarcophagus© Lincolnshire County Council
The figure will reappear alongside the limestone sarcophagus, which attracted national media attention when it was found under the floor of the church, as well as a Roman bronze eagle’s wing from the late 1st century, thought to have been part of a grand imperial statue in the nearby forum.

The body was enveloped in a cloth© Lincolnshire County Council
Nick Worth, of the City of Lincoln Council, said the castle site – reopening to the public on Monday following a £22 million project to create new attractions including a complete circular walk and a cinema – was a “significant” and “enigmatic” archaeological location.
“Apart from the archaeological evidence of the medieval castle itself, its grounds include important remains from Lincoln’s Roman past,” he added.
“This new exhibition shines a light on that past, giving glimpses of what life was like for people living on the castle site from late Roman and medieval times through to the Georgian and Victorian eras.”
- Lincoln Castle reopens on June 8 2015. Visit lincolncastle.com.
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