Archaeology’s Best Known Skeleton

Brian Edwards explores the mystery of the barber-surgeon, the fourteenth-century skeleton found beneath a stone at Avebury megalith. Edwards recounts the discovery by archaeologist Alexander Keiller and considers how Keiller’s background may have influenced what would become the dominant narrative about the identity of this mysterious character. The article introduces other potential identities of the barber-surgeon, based on texts about the Avebury Stones that were not available when the original conclusion was drawn. Even with this new evidence, the story of the skeleton is no less tantalizing.