''ARROWMAN'' : an analysis of a possible medieval cold case from Poulton, Cheshire

Abstract

A bodkin arrowhead was recovered from within the thorax of a human skeleton (SK535) from the medieval cemetery at Poulton, Cheshire. This skeleton was a single burial with an east-west orientation. The skeleton had an unusual burial position with the right arm flexed at the elbow and the antebrachium crossing the thorax. The left arm was in the more usual extended position. A metal object was recovered from under the right arm within the thorax. This was identified as a Type M7 bodkin arrowhead, likely 12th or 13th century. The arrowhead was conserved at the Metals Department, Conservation Centre, Liverpool. Radiocarbon dates the skeleton as most likely 1280AD – 1320AD AND 1350AD – 1390AD which is in agreement with the probable age range for the arrowhead. Osteological examinations estimated that SK535 was an adult male with an age at death of 35-39 years of age and a stature of 1.68m. The only pathology observed was a well healed fracture of the right distal ulna. The individual represented by SK535 could have been wounded by an arrow carrying the Type M7 bodkin arrowhead, possibly during the English-Welsh border skirmishes during this period.