Decipher the piece of 'human skin' on the door of a medieval church

The nailed skins on the doors of some medieval churches were not actually those of the punished Danish robbers, according to legend.

At the end of the 19th century, during the renovation of St. Botolph in Hadstock, near Cambridge, a large piece of skin was discovered under the metal bars of a doorway. Legend has it that the skin belonged to a Danish robber (Viking) who tried to loot the church in the 11th century. He was then skinned and nailed to the door as a deterrent.

St. Botolph is not the only church with "human skin" on the front door. In England, at least three other medieval structures have such skins, including the church of St. Michael's Church, All Angels Church and Westminster Abbey.

Piece of leather and a hinge from St. Botolph in Hadstock, England.

Previously, scientists wanted to find out if these legends were true and analyzed several specimens. However, what they actually are is controversial. In the 1970s, Ron Reed, a skin specialist at the University of Leeds, analyzed skin samples in St. Botolph and concluded it was human skin, possibly from a person with light or gray hair. However, in the BBC program Blood of the Vikings in 2001, DNA analysis showed that the skin sample came from the Bovine family (Bovidae), although it cannot be completely confirmed.

At the UK Archaeological Science Conference 2022 (UKAS), expert Ruairidh Macleod and colleagues further analyzed skin fragments at all four sites using a non-destructive technique called ZooMS. The technique revealed the collagen peptide sequence in the specimen, allowing scientists to determine which animal the sample belonged to. In this case, they applied a rubber eraser to the surface of the skin, then extracted the peptides that adhered to the scraps.

As a result, none of the samples were human skin. Two samples at the church of St. Botolph and Westminster Abbey are derived from the Cattle Family, while the specimen at St. Michael and the All Angels belong to horses or donkeys. They could not be more specific because horses and donkeys have very similar collagen traces.

"Interestingly, it seems that the churches in which we analyzed the specimens have very similar legends, that these skins are of Danish bandit (Viking) origin. This is noted by scribe Samuel. Pepys first attested in his diary in 1661. Therefore, the legend that these are pieces of skin from the Danes has existed for a long time," Macleod said.

"Since there aren't any specimens that are actually human skin, this story probably originated as a local legend in one of the churches, then quickly spread to other places that also have traces of the skin. dry skin nailed to the door," he said.

Experts say it's possible that putting animal skins on church doors has something to do with aesthetics. "However, the appeal of the legend of the human skin as well as its ability to deter church vandals may explain the persistence of the legend," Macleod said.