Rome · AD 140–165 · Inveresk, East Lothian, Scotland, United Kingdom
Face rebuilt for man decapitated after death at Roman fort near Edinburgh
The man died between AD 140 and 165 at Inveresk, was born in southern Britain, and had a badly damaged right arm that ruled out soldiering.
Inveresk, United Kingdom Researchers have reconstructed the face of a man who died between AD 140 and 165 at Inveresk, near Edinburgh. He was buried close to a Roman fort, and his head had been cut off after death. National Museums Scotland coordinated the international team behind the work.
The digital portrait shows a man of about 50 with brown eyes and dark, partly greying hair. He has wrinkles around his eyes. The facial reconstruction specialist Chris Rynn made the portrait, drawing on ancient DNA, chemical studies of the remains and examination of the skeleton.
Inveresk lay in a region Rome was trying to bring under control. Soldiers, traders, families and local communities lived around the fort. The man's dates fall in the decades when Rome held southern Scotland and built the Antonine Wall between the Forth and the Clyde.
A long move north and a damaged arm
The analyses indicate that the man was born in southern Britain, several hundred kilometres from where he was buried. At some point he travelled north to the area around the Forth estuary. Earlier isotope studies led by researchers at Durham University supplied the evidence for where he came from.
His skeleton points to a physically hard life. He had a broken nose that had healed. His right elbow showed abnormal bone growth, possibly caused by septic arthritis. This is an infection of the joint that can cause lasting damage.
The elbow problem badly limited the movement of his arm. Specialists at National Museums Scotland say this rules out that he was serving as a soldier when he died, because he could hardly have used a sword. His actual job remains unknown.
His front teeth were heavily worn. This may mean he used his mouth to hold objects while he worked, perhaps to make up for his arm. The researchers cannot say exactly what tasks he did.
Four of six men decapitated after death
The man belonged to an unusual group of burials. Six adult men have been identified in the graves near the fort. Four of them, including this man, had been decapitated after they died.
These are the first known Roman-period post-mortem decapitations found in Scotland. They are also among the earliest recorded in Britain. What they meant is still unclear.
Removing a head after death is different from an execution and does not have to mean a judicial punishment. The archaeologists are weighing several explanations, from punishment to ceremonies tied to beliefs about the dead. Fears about the supernatural are another possibility. The specialists caution that the motives may have differed with time and setting, and no single explanation yet accounts for Inveresk.
How the face was made
Researchers from the University of York and Harvard Medical School worked on the ancient DNA. Rynn then combined the scientific results with artistic choices to produce the portrait.
Fraser Hunter, principal curator of Prehistory and Roman Archaeology at National Museums Scotland, said in the museum's statement that the team cannot know exactly what the man looked like. He added that they believe his family and friends would have recognised the likeness.
The reconstruction will go on display beside the original skull in the exhibition Roman Scotland: Life on the Edge of Empire. It opens at the National Museum of Scotland in Edinburgh on 14 November 2026 and runs until 18 April 2027. The exhibition will cover life on the frontier for Roman soldiers, for the families living beside the forts and for local people facing Rome's expansion.
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