The oath skull engraved with the Sator Square had largely been the stuff of academic research and historical footnotes until a remarkable discovery in the early 21st century rekindled public interest. In 2015, during an excavation for a building project in the town of Münster, archaeologists unearthed a wooden box containing what appeared to be a human skull. The immediate identification of the Sator Square engraving on its surface signaled its extraordinary importance.
Initial reports were chronicled in the academic journal “Archaeological Discoveries in Westphalia,” revealing the skull to be remarkably well-preserved, likely due to the absence of air and moisture in its wooden enclosure. Radiocarbon dating suggested that the skull dated back to the late 15th or early 16th century, aligning it perfectly with the period when vehmic courts were known to be active.
The discovery reignited scholarly discussions about the practices of vehmic courts and the significance of the Sator Square. The skull itself became a subject of various scientific studies, involving forensics, paleopathology, and even metallurgical analyses to understand the material used for the engraving. More tantalizingly, the archaeological site where the skull was found also yielded other artifacts, such as parchments with esoteric symbols, further pointing to the site’s connection with secret or mystical activities.
The skull is now housed in a German museum, presented as a fascinating relic of a time when justice, mysticism, and mortality coalesced in a macabre dance of fate and faith.
