Patterns of violence-related skull trauma in neolithic southern scandinavia

Geographic origin, ancestry, and death circumstances at the Cornaux/Les Sauges Iron Age bridge, Switzerland

Cornaux/Les Sauges (Switzerland, Late Iron Age) revealed remnants of a wooden bridge, artifacts, and human and animal skeletal remains. The relationship between the collapsed structure and the skeletal material, whether it indicates a potential accident or cultural practices, remains elusive. We evaluate the most plausible scenario for Cornaux based on osteological, taphonomic, isotopic, and paleogenomic analysis of the recovered individuals. The latter amount to at least 20 individuals, mostly adult males. Perimortem lesions include only blunt force traumas. Radiocarbon data fall between the 3rd and 1st c. BCE, although in some cases predating available dendrochronological estimates from the bridge. Isotopic data highlight five to eight nonlocals. No close genetic relatedness links the analyzed skeletons. Paleogenomic results, the first for Iron Age Switzerland, point to a genetic affinity with other Central and Western European Iron Age groups. The type of skeletal lesions supports an accidental event as the more plausible explanation. Radiocarbon data and the demographic structure of the sample may suggest a sequence of different events possibly including executions and/or sacrifices. Isotopic and paleogenomic data, while not favoring one scenario over the other, do support earlier interpretations of the last centuries BCE in Europe as a dynamic period from a biocultural perspective.

Death in the high mountains: Evidence of interpersonal violence during Late Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age at Roc de les Orenetes (Eastern Pyrenees, Spain)

OBJECTIVES

To test a hypothesis on interpersonal violence events during the transition between Chalcolithic and Bronze Age in the Eastern Pyrenees, to contextualize it in Western Europe during that period, and to assess if these marks can be differentiated from secondary funerary treatment.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Metric and non-metric methods were used to estimate the age-at-death and sex of the skeletal remains. Perimortem injuries were observed and analyzed with stereomicroscopy and confocal microscopy.

RESULTS

Among the minimum of 51 individuals documented, at least six people showed evidence of perimortem trauma. All age groups and both sexes are represented in the skeletal sample, but those with violent injuries are predominantly males. Twenty-six bones had 49 injuries, 48 of which involved sharp force trauma on postcranial elements, and one example of blunt force trauma on a cranium. The wounds were mostly located on the upper extremities and ribs, anterior and posterior. Several antemortem lesions were also documented in the assemblage.

DISCUSSION

The perimortem lesions, together with direct dating, suggest that more than one episode of interpersonal violence took place between the Late Chalcolithic and the Early Bronze Age in northeastern Spain. The features of the sharp force trauma indicate that different weapons were used, including sharp metal objects and lithic projectiles. The Roc de les Orenetes assemblage represents a scenario of recurrent lethal confrontation in a high mountain geographic context, representing the evidence of inferred interpersonal violence located at the highest altitude settings in the Pyrenees, at 1836 meters above sea level.

Was it an axe or an adze? A cranial trauma case study from the Late Neolithic - Chalcolithic site of Cova Foradada (Calafell, Spain)

OBJECTIVE

To reconstruct the etiology of a perimortem injury observed on a Neolithic - Chalcolithic cranium (5060 - 4400 yrs cal. BP).

MATERIALS

A cranium of an old adult male individual belonging to a collective burial from Cova Foradada site (Calafell, Tarragona, Spain).

METHODS

The cranium was analyzed macroscopically and microscopically using micro-CT scan.

RESULTS

The fracture on the right parietal bone presents characteristics of perimortem trauma. The morphology of the point of impact allows for the interpretation of this fracture as a result of impact by an object with a straight and sharp edge. In addition, the same cranium presents two healed antemortem injuries.

CONCLUSIONS

The object that most likely caused the cranial fracture was a stone adze. The blow occurred from behind the individual, possibly by a right-handed attacker.

SIGNIFICANCE

The potential to link cranial fractures with specific tools increases our understanding of interpersonal violence during the Neolithic.

LIMITATIONS

It is not possible to infer if this cranial injury was related to a large-scale intergroup confrontation or an intragroup violent event.

SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH

To investigate additional similar sites in the northeastern Iberian Peninsula to better characterize the fracture pattern caused by stone axes and adzes as well as other objects used as weapons during the Neolithic - Chalcolithic ages.

Violence in the first millennium BCE Eurasian steppe: Cranial trauma in three Turpan Basin populations from Xinjiang, China

OBJECTIVES

Violence affected daily life in prehistoric societies, especially at conflict zones where different peoples fought over resources and for other reasons. In this study, cranial trauma was analyzed to discuss the pattern of violence experienced by three Bronze to early Iron Age populations (1,000-100 BCE) that belonged to the Subeixi culture. These populations lived in the Turpan Basin, a conflict zone in the middle of the Eurasian Steppe.

METHODS

The injuries on 129 complete crania unearthed from the Subeixi cemeteries were examined for crude prevalence rate (CPR), trauma type, time of occurrence, possible weapon, and direction of the blow. Thirty-three injuries identified from poorly preserved crania were also included in the analyses except for the CPR. Data was also compared between the samples and with four other populations that had violence-related backgrounds.

RESULTS

Overall, 16.3% (21/129) of the individuals showed violence-induced traumatic lesions. Results also indicated that most of the injuries were perimortem (81.6%), and that women and children were more involved in conflict than the other comparative populations. Wounds from weapons accounted for 42.1% of the identified cranial injuries. Distribution analysis suggested no dominant handedness of the attackers, and that blows came from all directions including the top (17.1%). Wounds caused by arrowheads and a special type of battle-ax popular in middle and eastern Eurasian Steppe were also recognized.

DISCUSSION

A comprehensive analysis of the skeletal evidence, historical records, and archeological background would suggest that the raiding to be the most possible conflict pattern reflected by the samples. The attackers were likely to have been nomadic invaders from the steppe (such as the Xiongnu from historical records), who attacked the residents in the basin more likely for their resources rather than territory or labor force.

Prevalence of cranial trauma in Eurasian Upper Paleolithic humans

OBJECTIVES

This study characterizes patterns of cranial trauma prevalence in a large sample of Upper Paleolithic (UP) fossil specimens (40,000-10,000 BP).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Our sample comprised 234 individual crania (specimens), representing 1,285 cranial bones (skeletal elements), from 101 Eurasian UP sites. We used generalized linear mixed models (GLMMs) to assess trauma prevalence in relation to age-at-death, sex, anatomical distribution, and between pre- and post-Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) samples, while accounting for skeletal preservation.

RESULTS

Models predicted a mean cranial trauma prevalence of 0.07 (95% CI 0.003-0.19) at the level of skeletal elements, and of 0.26 (95% CI 0.08-0.48) at the level of specimens, each when 76-100% complete. Trauma prevalence increased with skeletal preservation. Across specimen and skeletal element datasets, trauma prevalence tended to be higher for males, and was consistently higher in the old age group. We found no time-specific trauma prevalence patterns for the two sexes or age cohorts when comparing samples from before and after the LGM. Samples showed higher trauma prevalence in the vault than in the face, with vault remains being affected predominantly in males.

DISCUSSION

Cranial trauma prevalence in UP humans falls within the variation described for Mesolithic and Neolithic samples. According to our current dataset, UP males and females were exposed to slightly different injury risks and trauma distributions, potentially due to different activities or behaviors, yet both sexes exhibit more trauma among the old. Environmental stressors associated with climatic changes of the LGM are not reflected in cranial trauma prevalence. To analyze trauma in incomplete skeletal remains we propose GLMMs as an informative alternative to crude frequency calculations.

Troubles in Tuva: Patterns of perimortem trauma in a nomadic community from Southern Siberia (second to fourth c. CE)

OBJECTIVES

Warfare is assumed to be one of the defining cultural characteristics of steppe nomads in Eastern Eurasia. For the first-centuries CE, a period of political turmoil in Northern China and Southern Siberia, relatively few data are, however, available about the degree and variability of violence in these communities. Here, we provide new data on violence among steppe nomads during the first-centuries CE by analyzing the type, anatomical distribution, and demographic distribution of perimortem trauma at Tunnug1 (Tuva, Southern Siberia-second to fourth c. CE).

MATERIALS AND METHODS

Perimortem traumas were assessed on 87 individuals representing both sexes and different age classes. The timing of the lesions was assessed based on morphological criteria, including the absence and presence of bone reactive processes and the relative plasticity of the bone at the moment of impact. The distribution by age, sex, and anatomical location of trauma was analyzed by means of logistic models, Fisher's exact tests, and 3D visualizations.

RESULTS

A total of 130 perimortem traumas, including chop marks, slice marks, penetrating lesions, and blunt traumas were identified on 22 individuals. Chop marks were mostly at the level of the skull and vertebrae and were likely caused by bladed weapons. Slice marks were found on the cervical vertebrae and cranium and may be the result of throat slitting and scalping by means of smaller bladed implements. Traumas were more frequent in males, and their presence is not correlated with age.

DISCUSSION

This study adds new data to the few available regarding violence among steppe nomadic cultures and provides new insights about the effects of political instability on the life of the people inhabiting Eastern Eurasia during the early centuries CE.

A massacre of early Neolithic farmers in the high Pyrenees at Els Trocs, Spain

Violence seems deeply rooted in human nature and an endemic potential for such is today frequently associated with differing ethnic, religious or socio-economic backgrounds. Ethnic nepotism is believed to be one of the main causes of inter-group violence in multi-ethnic societies. At the site of Els Trocs in the Spanish Pyrenees, rivalling groups of either migrating early farmers or farmers and indigenous hunter-gatherers collided violently around 5300 BCE. This clash apparently resulted in a massacre of the Els Trocs farmers. The overkill reaction was possibly triggered by xenophobia or massive disputes over resources or privileges. In the present, violence and xenophobia are controlled and sanctioned through social codes of conduct and institutions. So that, rather than representing an insurmountable evolutionary inheritance, violence and ethnic nepotism can be overcome and a sustainable future achieved through mutual respect, tolerance and openness to multi-ethnic societies.

Possible interpersonal violence in the Neolithic necropolis of Campo de Hockey (San Fernando, Cádiz, Spain)

OBJECTIVE

To interpret traumatic cranial lesions on two individuals buried at the Neolithic necropolis of Campo de Hockey, Spain.

MATERIALS

Skeletal remains and grave goods associated with two individuals recovered in good condition from a single grave.

METHODS

Crania were macroscopically and radiographically analysed.

RESULTS

Of all the individuals recovered from this site, only two present perimortem skull injuries. Fractures were located on the right side of the skulls, one on the frontal bone and the other on the parietal bone.

CONCLUSIONS

The individuals present signs of interpersonal violence. In both cases, the injuries are perimortem and may have contributed to the deaths of the individuals.

SIGNIFICANCE

The identification of interpersonal violence in the two individuals buried in the tomb, alongside the archaeological context of the burials, provides unique insight into Neolithic burial practices in the Iberian Peninsula and the role that paleopathology can play in the recognition of social complexity.

LIMITATIONS

The skeletal remains of the two individuals were fragmented, rendering the identification of perimortem lesions difficult.

SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH

New imaging techniques, including CT-scan, will provide more detailed analyses.

A tale of two cities: A comparison of urban and rural trauma in Medieval Denmark

OBJECTIVE

This study explores the differences in frequency and type of trauma found in two Medieval cemeteries in Denmark, as well as the cultural and community implications of those differences.

MATERIALS

We examined 235 skeletons from the cemetery at Tjærby (rural) and 170 skeletons from the cemetery at Randers (urban) for trauma from the Medieval period in Denmark, 1050 to 1536 CE.

METHODS

Trauma was assessed through macroscopic examination and odds ratio and relative risk assessments were run to assess the difference in trauma.

RESULTS

There was no significant difference in the presence of trauma between the rural and urban cemeteries or between males and females. There were some significant differences in relative risk for trauma between the two cemeteries.

CONCLUSIONS

The division and variation in trauma between the two cemeteries is most likely related to differences in economy and occupation.

SIGNIFICANCE

There are relatively few studies that examine the difference in inherent risk of trauma between rural and urban Medieval communities, especially in Denmark. This research also adds to the growing body of literature in paleopathology that uses epidemiology to explore the parallels between patterns of trauma and community lifeways.

LIMITATIONS

The cemeteries are approximately 5 km distance from each other so similarities in the sample could be a result of location.

SUGGESTIONS FOR FURTHER RESEARCH

A wider sample of Medieval cemeteries in Denmark needs be added to this analysis to provide a more complete picture of trauma patterns during this time period.

Wounded to the bone: Digital microscopic analysis of traumas in a medieval mass grave assemblage (Sandbjerget, Denmark, AD 1300-1350)

Battle-related mass burials are considered the most unequivocal evidence of past violence. However, most published studies involve only macroscopic analysis of skeletal remains, commonly arriving only at broad conclusions regarding trauma interpretation. The current study considers a possible avenue for achieving both greater detail and accuracy through digital microscopy. Patterns of injury were investigated among 45 individuals from a Medieval Danish mass grave (Sandbjerget, AD 1300-1350). Injuries were recorded on every anatomical element, except hand and foot bones. Each was photographed and cast, facilitating remote evaluations. Macroscopic analysis was compared with digital microscopy in order to test the relative utility of the latter in characterizing skeletal injuries (mechanism, weapon class, direction, timing of injury). The location of 201 observed injuries, mainly sharp force defects, suggested that many lesions were probably not inflicted by face-to-face opponents. Some microscopic features were indicative of a specific lesion type and weapon class. Digital microscopy was therefore demonstrated to be a complementary tool to macroscopic assessment, enhancing feature observation and quantification and serving to compensate for many of the limitations of macroscopic assessment.

The association between healed skeletal fractures indicative of interpersonal violence and alcoholic liver disease in a cadaver cohort from the Western Cape, South Africa

Interpersonal violence (IPV) and heavy alcohol consumption are major problems in the Western Cape Province of South Africa. Cranio-maxillofacial fractures, particularly nasal and zygomatic bone fractures, as well as isolated radial fractures (Colles fractures) and ulnar shaft fractures (parry fractures), are indicative of IPV, while alcoholic liver disease (ALD) is the consequence of chronic alcohol abuse. We therefore aim to investigate whether a significant association exists between the prevalence of cranio-maxillofacial fractures and parry fractures and ALD in a Western Cape population. Embalmed cadavers (n = 124) used for medical students' anatomy training at the Division of Anatomy and Histology, Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Stellenbosch University were studied. The cadavers were dissected according to departmental protocol. The liver of each cadaver was investigated for macroscopic pathology lesions. Tissue samples were removed, processed to wax, and sectioned and stained with hematoxylin and eosin (H&E). All soft tissue was removed from the skulls, radii, and ulnae, which were then investigated for healed skeletal trauma. The results showed 37/124 (29.8%) cadavers had healed cranio-maxillofacial fractures and 24/124 (19.4%) cadavers had morphologic features of ALD. A total of 12/124 (9.7%) cadavers showed signs of both ALD and healed cranio-maxillofacial trauma. More males were affected than females, and left-sided facial fractures were statistically more common compared to the right side. This study illustrated a significant trend between alcohol abuse and cranio-maxillofacial fractures in individuals from communities with a low socio-economic status (SES) where IPV is a major problem.

Inter-group violence among early Holocene hunter-gatherers of West Turkana, Kenya

The nature of inter-group relations among prehistoric hunter-gatherers remains disputed, with arguments in favour and against the existence of warfare before the development of sedentary societies. Here we report on a case of inter-group violence towards a group of hunter-gatherers from Nataruk, west of Lake Turkana, which during the late Pleistocene/early Holocene period extended about 30 km beyond its present-day shore. Ten of the twelve articulated skeletons found at Nataruk show evidence of having died violently at the edge of a lagoon, into which some of the bodies fell. The remains from Nataruk are unique, preserved by the particular conditions of the lagoon with no evidence of deliberate burial. They offer a rare glimpse into the life and death of past foraging people, and evidence that warfare was part of the repertoire of inter-group relations among prehistoric hunter-gatherers.

The massacre mass grave of Schöneck-Kilianstädten reveals new insights into collective violence in Early Neolithic Central Europe

Conflict and warfare are central but also disputed themes in discussions about the European Neolithic. Although a few recent population studies provide broad overviews, only a very limited number of currently known key sites provide precise insights into moments of extreme and mass violence and their impact on Neolithic societies. The massacre sites of Talheim, Germany, and Asparn/Schletz, Austria, have long been the focal points around which hypotheses concerning a final lethal crisis of the first Central European farmers of the Early Neolithic Linearbandkeramik Culture (LBK) have concentrated. With the recently examined LBK mass grave site of Schöneck-Kilianstädten, Germany, we present new conclusive and indisputable evidence for another massacre, adding new data to the discussion of LBK violence patterns. At least 26 individuals were violently killed by blunt force and arrow injuries before being deposited in a commingled mass grave. Although the absence and possible abduction of younger females has been suggested for other sites previously, a new violence-related pattern was identified here: the intentional and systematic breaking of lower limbs. The abundance of the identified perimortem fractures clearly indicates torture and/or mutilation of the victims. The new evidence presented here for unequivocal lethal violence on a large scale is put into perspective for the Early Neolithic of Central Europe and, in conjunction with previous results, indicates that massacres of entire communities were not isolated occurrences but rather were frequent features of the last phases of the LBK.