In Roman crucifixion, nails were most likely driven through the wrists rather than the center of the palms, and through the heel bones of the feet. This understanding comes from a combination of archaeological evidence, cadaver studies, and medical analysis that has reshaped the popular image of crucifixion over the past century.
Why the Wrists, Not the Palms
Traditional artwork almost universally depicts crucifixion nails piercing the center of the palms. But cadaver experiments conducted in the mid-20th century showed this wouldn’t work. Nails driven through the flesh between the metacarpal bones (the long bones of the palm) simply tear through the tissue under body weight. The palm doesn’t have the structural support to hold a person on a cross.
The wrist, by contrast, is reinforced by a thick band of connective tissue, along with a cluster of small, dense bones. When a nail passes through this area, those structures lock around it and can bear the weight of a hanging body. This is why most modern researchers believe Roman executioners drove nails through or just above the wrist. The French surgeon Pierre Barbet was among the first to propose this in the 1930s, based partly on his study of the Shroud of Turin and partly on his own cadaver experiments.
There’s an important note about language here. The ancient Greek and Latin words translated as “hand” in biblical and Roman texts included the wrist. So descriptions of nails in the “hands” are not necessarily inconsistent with wrist placement. The distinction between hand and wrist that feels obvious to modern readers didn’t exist in the same way for ancient writers.
How the Feet Were Nailed
The only direct archaeological evidence of Roman crucifixion comes from a 1968 discovery at Giv’at ha-Mivtar, a Jewish burial site in Jerusalem. Archaeologists found the skeletal remains of a man named Jehohanan, dating to the first century. His right heel bone still had an iron nail driven through it, with a small piece of olive wood lodged between the nail head and the bone, likely a washer-like plaque used to prevent the foot from sliding off.
Initial analysis suggested the nail had pierced both heel bones together, meaning the feet were placed side by side. Later reexamination by researchers Zias and Sekeles corrected this: only one heel bone was pierced by the nail. The nail’s tip had bent, probably after hitting a knot in the wood of the cross, which is why it couldn’t be removed before burial.
This evidence points to nails being driven through the calcaneus, the large bone at the back of the foot, rather than through the top of the foot as most paintings show. One reconstruction suggests the victim’s feet straddled the upright post with a nail through each heel bone on either side. Another possibility is that the knees were bent and turned outward, with the feet nailed to the front of the post. Both positions would allow the heel bone’s dense structure to hold the nail securely.
Ropes Were Also Common
Not every crucifixion used nails. The Giv’at ha-Mivtar skeleton showed no traumatic marks on the arm bones, which led Zias and Sekeles to conclude that Jehohanan’s arms were likely tied to the crossbeam with ropes rather than nailed. There is substantial literary and artistic evidence from the Roman period showing that ropes were a common alternative, and many victims were probably secured with a combination of both.
Nailing was not the default method. It depended on available materials, the intent of the executioners, and how long they wanted the victim to survive. Roman soldiers during the siege of Jerusalem reportedly traveled up to ten miles to find wood for crosses, so economy of resources likely influenced their methods.
The Role of the Small Seat
Some crosses included a small wooden peg or seat called a sedile, positioned partway up the vertical post. This wasn’t a mercy. By partially supporting the victim’s weight, the sedile prevented the body from sagging so quickly and prolonged the time it took to die. Its presence also changes the physics of nail placement: if a seat bore some of the body’s weight, the nails in the wrists didn’t need to support the full load alone, which may explain why some victims survived for days.
What the Nail Placement Meant for Pain
Wrist placement had a brutal secondary effect. The median nerve, which runs through the wrist and controls sensation in much of the hand, would have been compressed or directly damaged by a nail in that area. This would cause searing pain radiating through the hand and arm, along with involuntary contraction of the fingers into a clawed position. Some medical researchers have focused on this nerve damage as a defining feature of the crucifixion experience, separate from the pain of the wound itself.
The combination of wrist and heel nailing also forced the victim into an agonizing cycle. To breathe, the person had to push up on the nails through their feet to expand the chest, then sag back down onto the wrist nails when exhausted. Each movement drove iron against bone and damaged nerve tissue. This is why the position of the nails wasn’t incidental. It was central to how crucifixion functioned as a prolonged execution.
Why There’s Still Debate
With only one archaeological specimen and no surviving Roman instructional records, certainty is impossible. The Romans crucified thousands of people across centuries and across a vast empire, and there was likely no single standardized method. Literary sources describe victims being nailed in various positions, sometimes upside down, sometimes in contorted postures chosen to maximize suffering or humiliation.
What the evidence does establish is that the familiar image of nails through the center of open palms is almost certainly wrong, at least as a general practice. The wrist and heel bone offered the structural support that soft tissue in the palm and the top of the foot could not. Roman executioners, whatever else they were, understood the practical mechanics of keeping a person fixed to a cross.