YesThe opportunity to assess human skeletal remains from Norton Priory, near Runcorn
(Cheshire), led to the discovery of peri-mortem blade trauma on an adult male
skeleton. The burial evidence suggests that this individual was a wealthy knight
and lay benefactor of the priory in the thirteenth century and skeletal evidence has
revealed that he was the victim of inter-personal violence. Additionally, many skeletal
elements were affected by advanced Paget’s disease, which may have resulted in
a certain level of vulnerability due to restricted movement of his arms as a result
of Pagetic thickening of the bones. This is the only evidence found of weaponrelated trauma on the Norton Priory skeletal assemblage, making it a rare case and
contributing to our understanding of inter-personal violence associated with an
ecclesiastical establishment in medieval Britain
