First Gunshot Victim in the New World | National Geographic

archaeologists in Peru have discovered
the nearly 500 year old skeleton of a
man who died in a surprisingly modern
way from a gunshot wound to the head a
team of experts believes the man is the
first documented victim of a shooting in
the New World the skeleton was uncovered
by a team of archaeologists headed by
Guillermo who began excavating this
ancient Inca cemetery in 2004 many of
the bones revealed fractures puncture
wounds and signs of violent death one
skull stood out marked with what
appeared to be the entrance wound from a
musket ball the team analyzed the skull
with a scanning electron microscope and
found bits of iron which was used to
make musket balls embedded in the bone
it appeared that as the musket ball
punched into the back of the skull and
passed through the head it left iron
fragments deep inside the bone which
stayed there for some 500 years
Guillermo believes the wound and
the hastily buried bodies in the
cemetery point to one conclusion the
victim was killed by a Spanish
conquistador wielding a primitive gun
called an arquebus the inca battled the
spanish outside lima in 1536 near the
site of the graveyard believes that
the bodies buried there are the first
ever forensic remains from the battles
of Spanish conquest