By Laura Geggel about 15 hours ago
His jaw had been shattered in two.
. . .
Agelarakis and colleagues discovered the warrior's skull and lower jaw at Polystylon fort, an archaeological site in Western Thrace, Greece, in 1991. When the warrior was alive in the 14th century, the Byzantine Empire, also known as the Eastern Roman Empire, was facing attacks from the Ottomans. Given that the warrior was beheaded, it's likely that he fought until the Ottomans overcame Polystylon fort. In other words, it appears that "the fort did not surrender, but that it must have been taken by force," Agelarakis wrote in the study.
As the fort fell, the Ottomans likely captured and then decapitated the warrior; then, an unknown individual likely took the warrior's head and stealthily buried it, probably without the "permission of the subjugators, given that the rest of the body was not recovered," Agelarakis wrote in the study. But the warrior wasn't given his own grave; his head was interred in the pre-existing grave of a 5-year-old child, who was buried in the center of a 20-plot cemetery at Polystylon fort. A broken ceramic vessel, which may have been used to dig the hole for the warrior's head, was uncovered at the burial, Agelarakis added.
It's unknown if there was any familial or other tie between the warrior and the child. Given that the man's skull and jaw were found together, his head likely had soft tissues on it when it was buried in the mid-1380s, Agelarakis noted. The skull showed evidence of a "horrendous frontal impact," which was inflicted around the time of the man's death, he said.
. . .
Jawbreaker
The cause of the jaw fracture isn't clear, but possibilities include a forceful fall while horseback riding; a battle trauma from a thrust spearhead or another sharp, hand-held weapon; or a ballistic projectile fueled by black powder, Agelarakis wrote in the new study, published online in the September issue of the journal Mediterranean Archaeology and Archaeometry.
More:
https://www.livescience.com/byzantine-warrior-fractured-jaw
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Images of the ruins of Polystylon fort, etc.:
Polystylon
or Castle on the shore of Abdera
Right next to the archaeological site of Avdira -but not inside- there are remains of a Byzantine fortified town.
The place is the continuation of the important ancient city of Avdira (or Abdera, where Democritus was born) which during the Byzantine period was named Polystylon
History
The medieval town Polystylon was at the location of the acropolis of the ancient city of Avdera. The fortification of Polystylon was built around the 7th or 8th century AD. The byzantine walls were based on the walls of the ancient acropolis.
The byzantine historian Nikiforos Grigoras reports that in 1342 Ioannis Kantakouzenos reinforced the fortifications of Polystylon. Actually he repaired the upper part of the fortification, the so called “Byzantine acropolis”.
More:
https://www.kastra.eu/castleen.php?kastro=polystylo
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