One of the oldest datable skeletons with leprous bone-changes from the Naestved Leprosy Hospital churchyard in Denmark.

At the concluding excavation in June 1968, when the burial places belonging to the hospital church dating from the last half of the 13th century were examined, there was found in the choir an untouched rectangular Romanesque grave (Fig. la & b) built of large medieval bricks with inside measurements of 70 x 180 cm. In the grave there was a well-preserved skeleton of a male, aged about 25-30 years, with typical leprous bone-changes. The type of the grave and its placing at the most dignified place of the church, namely the choir, suggest that it was that of an important person. For lack of any gravegoods such as coins, signets or any other datable objects, it is impossible to date the grave more exactly than to the last half of the 13th century. The burial may have been that of the.founder of the church. The skeleton, measured in the grave, was 167 cm. long from vertex to malleoli interni, which corresponds to a stature of about 175 cm.