Prehistoric massacre revealed. Perimortem cranial trauma from Potočani, Croatia (original) (raw)
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Collegium anthropologicum 43, 2019
Trauma analysis was performed on skeletal material from the Benedictine Monastery of St Margaret in Bijela, Croatia. The material consists of 26 skeletons (19 males, three females and four subadults) recovered from six archaeological excavation campaigns. A high number of traumas, particularly perimortem injuries were recorded in the sample. A total of 56 traumas in 17 adults are recorded, 35 of which are perimortem. Based on this, as well as on the presence of antemortem sharp edged wounds and the predominance of craniofacial injuries it is suggested that the population buried in the monastic church was subject to high levels of intentional violence. The results are compared to two other monastic cemeteries from the same geographical and historical context, as well as two sites with high frequencies of perimortem trauma. A possible explanation for interring victims of homicide inside the monastery church is discussed in the paper. Key words: trauma analysis, perimortem trauma, Benedictine monastery, intentional violence, paleopathology, Croatia
Archaemetry, 2021
The Mompaderno cranium was found in 1883 at Baderna/Mompaderno in Croatian Istria. It was suspected to date from the Mesolithic or eolithic period, but radiocarbon analyses, performed by accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) on collagen extracted from two teeth, have provided an age range of 2,202– 1928 cal. BC, which corresponds to the Early Bronze Age in the investigated region. Macroscopic observations and X-ray micro-tomography (micro-CT) of the cranium have shown antemortem sharp force trauma on the frontal bones, probably caused by a bronze axe, and a related osteomyelitis likely caused by an infection of the wound. The study has also revealed a previous depressed fracture and an osteolytic area interpreted as intradiploic meningioma. Results provide rare and earliest evidence of interpersonal violence in the northern Adriatic region.
Book of abstracts 22nd European Meeting of the Paleopathology Association, 2018
The ruins of the Benedictine monastery of St. Margaret are situated in Bijela, near Daruvar, in northeastern Croatia. A systematic archaeological campaign started in 2012 and, by 2017, six excavation campaigns have been conducted. Thus far, part of the single - naved monastery church has been excavated, revealing numerous architectural elements, some small finds, and graves. During the 14th and 15th centuries the monastery was one of the most important Benedictine centres in Medieval Slavonia, but at the turn of the 15th century it was used as a fortification. It was thought that the monastery and its church were abandoned after the Ottoman conquest in the mid-16th century, but some of the excavated graves within the church date from the second half of the 16th through to the mid-17th century, indicating continued burial at the site. Anthropological analysis was carried out on 26 skeletons (19 males, 3 females and 4 subadults). Most of the pathological conditions (indicators of subadult stress, evidence of hard physical labour, and dental pathologies) suggest poor living conditions and a low standard of health. Many antemortem and perimortem injuries were recorded on the analysed material. In 19 out of 26 individuals (73.1%) 58 injuries and four possible injuries were identified. Some 14 out of 19 complete adult crania (73.7 %), and one out of three complete subadult crania (33.3%) exhibited trauma. Perimortem injuries were observed in four males and two females, while antemortem (healed) sharp force trauma was found in three males. The predominance of craniofacial injuries, as well as the presence of perimortem cranial trauma and healed sharp force lesions suggest that members of this community were subjected to high levels of intentional violence.