Scientists say that a skeleton with a nail on its foot found in England is rare evidence of Roman crucifixion.

This skeleton was included in a recent report in the British Archaeological Journal, which details the excavation results of an ancient Roman settlement found in Finstanton, Cambridgeshire, which dates back to the end of the first or early second century AD .

In one of the five cemeteries found, a skeleton-believed to be a man who was approximately 25 to 35 years old at the time of his death-had a nail in the heel.

"It shocked us a bit," David Ingham, project manager of Albion Archaeology, who led the excavation, told Insider. It was not until they returned to the laboratory to clean the bones that the team found the nails.

A nail was found in the heel bone of an ancient bone in England. (Archaeology of Albion)

Ingham and Cambridge University archaeologist Corinne Duhig wrote in a British archaeology article that the victim’s feet are likely to be “located on either side of the upright pillar of the cross, and the feet were fixed with horizontal nails through the heels”.

After consulting a human skeleton expert and excluding several unlikely theories, the archaeologists concluded that during the crucifixion of ancient Rome, the nail was forced through the victim’s foot, making it the world’s No. The four known executions of this type are also the best preserved.

Although it is believed that the crucifixion was relatively common in ancient Roman settlements, archaeological evidence to find it is extremely rare.

The Cambridgeshire skeleton is the second physical evidence of the crucifixion to be recorded. Of the four executions previously claimed to have been executed, two — another in Italy and Egypt — had no nails related to them.

According to a British archaeological report, a skeleton found in Jerusalem in 1968 had a similarly positioned nail on its heel, which led scientists to believe that the two were in similar positions when they were crucified. In a recent discovery in Cambridgeshire, the nail was kept in the foot of the bone because it had been bent and fixed in the bone.

"Everyone knows of being crucified through Christianity," Ingham said. "People don't necessarily realize that the Romans nailed people to the cross in many different ways. So this is not just a classic image. On the cross, open your arms, open your feet, and close together."

Ingham explained that, on the contrary, people may be tied to the cross instead of being nailed to the cross.

(Albion Archaeology and Adam Williams)

Above: The scientists didn't find the nail on the crucified skeleton's foot until they returned to the laboratory.

When using nails, they are usually removed from the body for reuse. Nailing the foot to the cross is not necessarily to fix the body to the structure. On the contrary, it may make the people nailed to the cross immobile and prevent them from using their feet to ease their position.

Ingham said: "This is relatively common, but it is still reserved for the most serious crimes. Crimes that threaten the country, especially sedition, witchcraft and the like," Ingham said, "These people have fallen out of favor and Country, so much so that they were nailed to the cross."

Family and friends may be afraid of being associated with unwelcome people in the local community, and even the deceased may not be able to arrange a proper funeral. Ingham explained that if left on the ground, decomposition would destroy evidence of execution.

The Cambridgeshire skeleton adds evidence of historical texts of the Roman crucifixion and also hints at the political situation at the time the victim was executed.

"This shows that even in the furthest provinces of the empire, Roman law still applies," Ingham said. "The westernmost end of the empire-in England-was a very turbulent place when this man lived, in the third and fourth centuries. There was a lot of political turmoil."

This article was originally published by Business Insider.

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