Amid the brutality of ancient warfare, Roman soldiers decapitated an enemy and placed his skull on the wall of their fort, to be found 2,000 years later by archaeologists in modern-day Spain.
The horrific warning to anyone who would dare to test Roman defenses was typical of warfare of the period, in an age of close combat fighting and bloody intimidation. Archaeologists working at Spain’s La Loma site in the province of Palencia unearthed the find, reported in a new paper published in the Journal of Roman Archaeology, revealing how Rome conquered this portion of the Iberian peninsula.
The Cantabrian Wars
Waged in the first century B.C., between 29 and 19, the Cantabrian Wars were fought between Rome and the local Celtic Cantabrian people. The first Roman Emperor, Octavian, who was later known as Augustus, personally oversaw some of the fighting as the fearsome locals refused to submit to Roman subjugation. La Loma is located in Northern Spain and was the site of a dramatic battle in which the Romans captured a fortified Celtic town in 25 B.C.
The earliest account of the campaign, written by Livy, is now lost, but the writings of later authors who used him as a source survive. Following the close of the active campaign, the local population launched a series of minor rebellions in 16 B.C. Two Roman legions were stationed in the area for another 70 years to contain any volatility that the empire feared may erupt.
The Siege of La Loma
From their excavation, archaeologists were able to piece together a picture of the siege. Hundreds of projectiles discovered outside of the walls suggest that Roman arrows inundated La Loma in the final hours of the battle. They also recovered evidence of the fierce hand-to-hand combat, including armor and weapons fragments. As the battle raged, these pieces were left on the ground to relay their storm two millennia later.
Recent excavations revealed the skull within the collapsed walls of the fort. While the skull was broken at the time it was recovered, with tissue pieces scattered in the fort’s corner, the archaeologists say that evidence at the site suggests it was originally part of the collapsed defensive walls.
Analysis of the skull, including DNA tests, revealed that it belonged to a local man roughly 45 years in age. So far in their excavations, the archaeologists have not located the rest of his body or evidence of a grave. Several elements suggest that the skull represents the remains of a head that was left out in the elements rather than a corpse that was buried. These include the bone bleaching and flaking from exposure, and the lack of any other bones co-located with the fragments. Researchers suspect that the skull was left outside for months before being broken when the walls were demolished.
The Dead of La Loma
Likely, the man died in battle, and his head was placed on the wall during the site’s Roman occupation. Later on, the head would have been discarded as the Romans demolished and abandoned the fortifications. Used as an intimidation tactic, whole or partial corpses were often exposed and displayed by Roman legions.
The exact manner in which the head was displayed remains a mystery, as the skull bears no markings that offer definitive clues. However, the researchers have now discovered other skull fragments in the first entrance, which they will next turn their attention to. Of particular interest will be whether the skull fragment bears any evidence of punishments inflicted upon the Celts.
Going forward, the team hopes that further analysis will allow them to fill in our understanding of this unique historic episode from the Cantabrian Wars.
The paper, “The Human Skull from the Siege of La Loma (Santibáñez de la Peña, Palencia, Spain),” appeared in the Journal of Roman Archaeology on November 11, 2025.
Ryan Whalen covers science and technology for The Debrief. He holds an MA in History and a Master of Library and Information Science with a certificate in Data Science. He can be contacted at ryan@thedebrief.org, and follow him on Twitter @mdntwvlf.