On the edge of a Roman villa in Sicily, an unusual skeleton was discovered: buried face-down, the Medieval man appeared to have been stabbed in the back at least six times. Most likely, the man was stabbed to death with a close-combat weapon such as a knife or dagger that had just one sharp edge. The stabbing trauma may have punctured his right lung and almost certainly punctured a large vessel such as the aorta or a heart chamber, causing the man's death. While the victim was likely kneeling when stabbed, Miccichè and colleagues could not provide a clear motivation behind the action, "as it could have originated either from a judicial or criminal environment." The injury pattern seen on this man's sternum is, so far, unique in bioarchaeology.

Source: Forbes January 31, 2019 13:41 UTC