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Brief communication: Neurotraumatological aspects of head injuries resulting from sharp and blunt force in the early medieval period of southwestern Germany
Author(s) -
Weber Jochen,
Czarnetzki Alfred
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
american journal of physical anthropology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.146
H-Index - 119
eISSN - 1096-8644
pISSN - 0002-9483
DOI - 10.1002/ajpa.1047
Subject(s) - crania , blunt , context (archaeology) , medicine , anatomy , surgery , skull , archaeology , geography
Approximately 10% (33 of 304) of the predominantly male skulls from the 6th through 8th centuries in southwestern Germany exhibit cranial fractures derived from blunt or sharp force trauma. No evidence of fracture healing characterizes 24% (n = 8) of these individuals. All nonhealed fractures were caused by sharp force, and four of these wounds cross the sagittal sinus. The lengths of these straight‐edged wounds, produced exclusively by sword blows, measure around 8.0 cm for fatal, and about 5.0 cm for nonfatal wounds. Seventy‐six percent (n = 25) of these skulls exhibit some healing, which indicates that these injuries did not lead to immediate death. In this group are all depressed fractures resulting from blunt force blows. Two thirds of the 45 cranial injuries noted on these 33 skulls are located on the left side of these individuals, with a concentration in the frontoparietal region. Bony indications of wound infection occur in four cases (12%). Three crania exhibit circular trepanations in association with fractures. These phenomena are discussed in the context of modern neurotraumatological knowledge. Am J Phys Anthropol 114:352–356, 2001. © 2001 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.