User:Dougsim/SBM

St Bees man is the name that was given to a medieval body discovered during an archaeological dig in 1981 in a vault at St Bees priory, Cumbria, UK. It was at the time the best preserved medieval body discovered in modern times. After 30 years, recent research has established that this was most likely to have been the body of Anthony de Lucy who was killed in the Teutonic Crusades in 1368

Discovery
In 1981 an archaeological dig was conducted on the site of the 14th century chancel aisle at St Bees priory, conducted by Students from Leicester Unversity, led by Diedre O'Sullivan. There had been no documented professional previous investigation of this area, and a number of inhumations and other artefacts were found. This was beneath the level of the aisle floor, which had been robbed for re-use at some time. In the centre of the location a stone vault infilled with rubble was found. There were no capping stones and excavation revealed a lead coffin on the south side, and the skeleton of a woman on the north side. The vault had been extended to accommodate the skeleton. The lead coffin was removed and opened up on the site to reveal a human body wrapped in a shroud. Specialist advice was immediately sought and the body was taken to the mortuary of the West Cumberland Hospital at Whitehaven for expert forensic investigation.

Autopsy
The forensic investigation was conducted by the pathologist Dr Edmund Tapp of Preston Royal Infirmary. X-rays revealed a fracture of the jaw caused by a blow from the right side, a fracture of the seventh rib, and a fracture of the hyoid bone in the neck. All of these appeared to have arisen shortly before death, since there was no sign of any regeneration of the bone. It was beleived that the immediate cause of death was a condition known as haemothorax.