The death of King Charles XII of Sweden revisited

ABSTRACT: Abstract The death of King Charles XII of Sweden has remained as a mystery for more than three centuries. Was he assassinated by his own men or killed by the enemy fire? Charles was killed by a projectile perforating his skull from left to right. In this study, we utilized a Synbone ballistic skull phantom and modern radiological imaging to clarify the factors behind the observed head injuries. We examined whether a musket ball fired from the enemy lines would be the most potential projectile. Our experiments with a leaden 19.5 mm musket ball demonstrated that at velocities of 200 to 250 m/s, it could cause similar type of injuries as observed in the remains of Charles . The radiological imaging supported the theory that the projectile was not a leaden but of some harder metal, as we could

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PROVIDER: S-EPMC9802245 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature