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A Crucified Skeleton

A large iron nail still lodged in a calf bone.
A large iron nail still lodged in a calf bone. Photo: Albion Archaeology

Though crucifixion was a widely known form of torture and execution, direct evidence for it is surprisingly rare. This year, archaeologists in the UK reported the first evidence of a Roman crucifixion in England, in the form of a nail lodged in the leg bone of a man who died in his late 20s or early 30s.