Bones of Leper Warrior Found in Medieval Cemetery (Italy, 500-700 AD)

Live Science ^ | April 9, 2011 | Unknown

[decimon]

The bones of a soldier with leprosy who may have died in battle have been found in a medieval Italian cemetery, along with skeletons of men who survived blows to the head with battle-axes and maces.

Studying ancient leprosy, which is caused by a bacterial infection, may help scientists figure out how the infectious disease evolved.

The find also reveals the warlike ways of the semi-nomadic people who lived in the area between the sixth and eighth centuries, said study researcher Mauro Rubini, an anthropologist at Foggia University in Italy. The war wounds, which showed evidence of surgical intervention, provide a peek into the medical capabilities of medieval inhabitants of Italy.

"They knew well the art of war and also the art of treating war wounds," Rubini told LiveScience.

Buried horses and bashed-in skulls

The cemetery of Campochiaro is near the central Italian town of Campobasso. Between the years 500 and 700, when the cemetery was in use, Rubini said, the area was under the control of the Lombards, a Germanic people who allied with the Avars, an ethnically diverse group of Mongols, Bulgars and Turks. No signs of a stable settlement have been found near Campochiaro, Rubini said, so the cemetery was likely used by a military outpost of Lombards and Avars, guarding against invasion from the Byzantine people to the south.

[decimon]

Foggia of war ping.

[RichInOC]

Beware the leper soldier. He may not have nothing left to lose...but he’s getting there.

[Tijeras_Slim]

He’s a foot soldier... not a feet soldier.

[central_va]

Why was the leper hockey game called off?
There was a face off in the corner.

[SunkenCiv]

· GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother, and Ernest_at_the_Beach · · join list or digest · view topics · view or post blog · bookmark · post a topic · subscribe ·
	Antiquity Journal  & archive  Archaeologica  Archaeology  Archaeology Channel  BAR  Bronze Age Forum  Discover  Dogpile  Eurekalert  Google  LiveScience  Mirabilis.ca  Nat Geographic  PhysOrg  Science Daily  Science News  Texas AM  Yahoo  Excerpt, or Link only?	Thanks decimon. To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list.
· History topic · history keyword · archaeology keyword · paleontology keyword · · Science topic · science keyword · Books/Literature topic · pages keyword ·

[Oldpuppymax]

Neat.

[AEMILIUS PAULUS]

This thread has brought out quite a few ROTTEN jokesters!

[Krankor]

leper warrior

To quote Monty Python and the Holy Grail: "Run away! Run away!"

[Ken H]

This thread has brought out quite a few ROTTEN jokesters!

Thanks for the tip!

[AEMILIUS PAULUS]

Apparently one warrior could not do his job so he got the axe.

[Rebelbase]

Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ears.

[AEMILIUS PAULUS]

I won that one by a nose! However, I’ll have to keep my eye on you!

[AEMILIUS PAULUS]

You exhibit a really sharp tongue.

[RightOnline]

...and if he bathed in a hot spring, his name was Stew.

[ResponseAbility]

Separated at birth?

[Antoninus]

This article is a ridiculous perversion of history. A Lombard or an Avar was not likely to be "guarding against an invasion from the Byzantine people." The so-called Byzantine people were the Romans who lived in Italy until they were slaughtered or driven out by the barbaric Avars and Lombards.

They also identify the weapons which injured or killed these people as being a Byzantine mace or battle axe. Neither of these weapons were common to the Romans of the time who more often used the sword, javelin, bow, or throwing darts. A battle-axe injury immediately suggests the Franks to me.

[Antoninus]

Apparently the Lombards and Avars took a more tolerant approach, Rubini said, because this man, who died around age 50, was buried in the cemetery along with the other dead.

Tolerant Lombards. Sure, that makes perfect sense.

"The Avar society was very inflexible militarily, and in particular situations all are called to contribute to the cause of survival, healthy and sick," Rubini said. "Probably this individual was really a leper warrior who died in combat to defend his people against the Byzantinian soldiers."

Absolute hooey. More likely, the leper was killed by the Avars themselves.

[afraidfortherepublic]

Ping

[Argus]

This find dates from the period following the Byzantine re-conquest of Italy under the generals Belisarius and Narses, whose armies were made up of levies from a number of different ethnic groups ranging from Anatolians to Huns.