The human skull from the siege of La Loma (Santibáñez de la Peña, Palencia, Spain)

Bibliographic Data

ID12372579
AuthorsSantiago David Domínguez Solera (0000-0002-0751-5336, HEROICA Arqueología y Patrimonio Cultural, corresponding author), Jesús Francisco Torres Martínez (0000-0003-4714-1567, IMBEAC), Silvia Carnicero (Instituto de Medicina Legal y Ciencias Forenses de Cantabria), Iñigo Olalde (0000-0002-2660-6807, University of the Basque Country), David Reich (0000-0002-7037-5292, Harvard Medical School), Swapan Mallick (0000-0002-6851-5022, Harvard Medical School), Nadin Rohland (0000-0002-8112-9601, Harvard Medical School)
Year2025
Pages1-16
Publication date2025-11-11
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Roman Archaeology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1047-7594 • E-ISSN: 2331-5709
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s1047759425100512
OpenAlexW4416104353
LanguageES
References cited19

This paper presents an analysis of the decapitated head found in 2020 under the collapsed wall of the Cantabrian oppidum of La Loma. This settlement was besieged and destroyed by the Roman Army during the Cantabrian Wars (29–16 BCE), either towards the end of the military campaign directed by Octavius Augustus (26 BC) himself, or during the subsequent campaign, commanded by Gaius Antistius Vetus (26–24 BCE). Radiocarbon dating, taphonomical and anthropological analysis, and DNA analysis assign the skull to one of the defenders of the hillfort. This man’s head would have been exposed on the walls as a symbol of victory before they were razed to prevent reoccupation of the settlement

Head (geology · Siege · Skull · Symbol (formal · Victory · Archaeology and ancient environmental studies · Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies · Paleopathology and ancient diseases

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