Skull of young Anglo-Saxon girl, front view with cuts and back view
with unfused sutures [Credit: Garrard Cole, Antiquity]
An Anglo-Saxon teenage girl appears to have had her nose and lips cut off — and possibly her head scalped as well — analysis of an old skull has revealed.
Unearthed in Oakridge, Hampshire, the remains have been radiocarbon dated to 776–899 AD — predating written accounts of this gruesome form of punishment.
Although it is not known exactly why the poor young woman was subject to the horrific facial mutilation, it was once routinely meted out to female offenders.
The disfigurement was given to adulteresses, slaves who stole and criminals guilty of more severe acts, the researchers reported.