Hot on the heels of my Viking piece here's a telling bit of evidence from the County museum that shows that Dorsetshire men didn't always get the best of a fight.
Two thousand years ago at Maiden Castle, a fortified hill top near Dorchester, the locals faced a load of Italian Johnnies in a battle between two civilisations.
Iron Age man was eventually overwhelmed by the might and technological superiority of the Roman Empire, armed mainly with slingstones taken from nearby Chesil Beach.
The outcome of the conflict helped change the course of British history forever.
The skeleton pictured is shows one of the Iron Age defenders who was struck down by a bolt from a Roman ballista (a powerful floor standing crossbow). When the fort fell to the Romans, the unfortunate victim was hastily bundled into pit the ballista bolt that would have instantly killed him still embedded in his vertebra .
The skeleton pictured is shows one of the Iron Age defenders who was struck down by a bolt from a Roman ballista (a powerful floor standing crossbow). When the fort fell to the Romans, the unfortunate victim was hastily bundled into pit the ballista bolt that would have instantly killed him still embedded in his vertebra .
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