The Battle of Towton: Human remains tell the story of a battle fought 500 years ago

The December 18th-31st issue of The Economist has an interesting article about archaeological excavations of the Battle of Towton which occurred March 29, 1461 in England. By examining the bones found in a mass grave site, archaeologists found that the fighters (for they were not professional soldiers) were taller than the popular imagination makes them--just 4 cm shorter than current Englishmen. Poor nutrition and disease caused stunting later-- in the Victorian era. The longbow was the primary weapon, and evidence shows thickening of the upper right arm bone near the shoulder and the left arm near the elbow, in response to the bow's use. Also, the battle was the scene of the earliest use of gunpowder, and archaeologists think they may have found a fragment of a handgun. The stress of the battle was so enormous that the fighters clenched their teeth together hard enough to cause splintering.