One of the most memorable moments of the battle comes as Maximus leads the cavalry attack and beheads a man, leaving his sword embedded in the trunk of a tree. While exploring the area we made our most startling discovery of the day: that actual tree.

How do we know it was the right tree? First, it is in exactly the right place - at the bottom of the slope down which the Romans make their sneak attack. Also, it is scorched (but then there are lots of scorched trees around this area). That leaves the most compelling piece of evidence...

... this particular trunk has several deep cuts amid the charring. These cuts are not only in the correct orientation (to have been made by a horseman attacking from the rear), but they are also at neck height. There can be no doubt that this is the tree!
(Why more than one cut? We have to assume that a tricky special effect like beheading a dummy takes some rehearsal.)

Purely by chance we had a replica Roman sword with us. There was only one thing to do, and that was to offer the sword up to the cut tree. Not only did it match exactly but it remained wedged into the slot unsupported! This was a highlight of the day.

Our sword in the tree, seen from front and rear.