He was a strong man who probably did a lot of riding and had a well-developed upper body. He was also buried in a highly prestigious place during the late 13th or the 14th centuries. All of this points to him being a knight. The arrow in his chest probably means he died in an ambush or a battle. There was an English knight called Sir John de Styrchley or Stirchley who died at Stirling in the siege of 1341-2 who might fit the bill, but he could easily be someone else whose name is forgotten.

Quite possibly, tests show that from eight to 15 he was growing up in the southern England or in northern France. But, as ever in archaeology, that points to interesting possibilities rather than simple answers. The Wars of Independence were civil wars as well as an Anglo Scottish conflict and there had been many families with lands either side of the border. Some Scots who backed the wrong side in the early part of the wars ended up in England, known as The Dispossessed. They fought, with English backing, for the return of their lands. The knight could have been from such a family. He may also have been a Scot raised as a hostage in England. Then again, he could have been raised in France – but England controlled parts of France and he was not necessarily of French origin. Even if he was, he might have had no loyalty to the kingdom of France.

The radiocarbon dating gives a range of dates between which the people may have died. For the female the likelihood is that she died between 1270 and 1400 (with a high likelihood that it was 1280-1310 or 1350-1390) and for the male it was probably between 1290 and 1400. The overlap makes it possible that they died at the same time, but we can’t say any more than that at present.

If they didn’t die in the siege of 1341, when else might they be from?

There were many clashes round Stirling. The main incidents affecting the castle are shown below, and our 10 chapel skeletons could come from one or more of these.

If this was the case, and there is currently not enough evidence to say it was, then it would be very exciting because female fighters seem to have been rare. Women sometimes directed forces, so could be involved in conflict without doing the fighting.

The female is interesting because it is so unusual to find evidence of a woman killed in conflict. We have no name for her, but she appears to have been important, as she was buried in a royal chapel. She was physically strong, probably used to doing a lot of riding, so may have enjoyed hunting.

The 10 skeletons are a highly unusual collection and Historic Scotland has commissioned further research to find out more about who they belonged to, where they were from and how they died.

The work will be carried out by biological anthropologist Dr Jo Buckberry of Bradford University’s Biological Anthropology Research Centre. Stable isotope analysis will be used to collect evidence. This includes strontium and oxygen analysis to try and establish where the people grew up. Carbon and nitrogen analysis can also show whether they ate much seafood, which can help indicate their social status.

Nine skeletons have been radiocarbon dated and we can say a certain amount about when the people died. It seems they were mostly from around the Wars of Independence. The dates we have are to a 95% degree of probability:

Some of the skeletons are highly fragmentary and it is uncertain what information they can yield. Among the most intriguing are the remains of two infants.

Historic Scotland follows clear guidelines on the treatment of human remains and this ensures they are looked after with care and respect. For the immediate future the skeletons will be kept in safe storage so they are available for research by experts. It is possible that they could be reburied at some future time.

To find what may be a substantial collection of remains from the victims of medieval conflict is unusual. What is particularly exciting is that the Stirling collection can be compared to the skeletons of soldiers killed in the battle of Towton in England in 1461. The results could be of enormous interest as the Towton collection are all male and died on the battlefield on the same day, while the Stirling skeletons are from a variety of periods and belong to men, women and children. The outcome could considerably broaden our knowledge of medieval warfare.