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Cranial injuries as evidence of violence in prehistoric southern California
Author(s) -
Walker Phillip L.
Publication year - 1989
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.1330800305
Subject(s) - crania , cranial trauma , prehistory , mainland , interpersonal violence , cranial vault , population , geography , osteology , demography , poison control , archaeology , medicine , injury prevention , anatomy , surgery , skull , medical emergency , sociology
Crania from the Channel Island area of southern California were examined for evidence of traumatic injuries. Well‐healed depressed fractures in the outer table of the cranial vault are common in skeletal remains from the northern Channel Islands (18.56% n = 598) but rare in those from the mainland coast (7.5% n = 146). This prevalence of traumatic injuries among the islanders may be a result of intense competition over resources in a geographically circumscribed environment. The frequency of cranial injuries increases significantly between the early and late prehistoric periods on the Channel Islands. This temporal variation appears to reflect changes in patterns of violence associated with population growth and environmental instability.