How did the 'barber surgeon' die?

In 1938, archaeologist Alexander Keiller discovered a male skeleton buried beneath a 13-ton megalith at Avebury in Wiltshire. Although the Avebury stone circle dates from 4,000 years ago, coins indicated that this was a person who lived in late medieval times. He had a pair of scissors and so might have been a barber surgeon. Keiller believed he had been killed by a falling stone during a period when many megaliths were buried because the Catholic church felt they were a pagan threat.

The remains of the 'barber surgeon' were taken to London during the Second World War, and were thought to have been destroyed during the Blitz. In 1999, they were rediscovered in the basement of the Natural History Museum. A re-examination of the skeleton showed that the body had not been crushed by a falling stone, but might have been buried next to it after death or been trapped by it and died of suffocation.

• Webchat with experts Anthea Boylston and Mike Pitts.

Top

Skeleton of the barber surgeon

Enlarge image