Izvorni znanstveni članak
An analysis of traumas in medieval samples from Kliškovac and Crkvari
Mario Šlaus
Mario Novak
Sažetak
The paper presents an analysis of human remains from two medieval sites in continental Croatia: Crkvari and Kliškovac. To date, the remains of 121 persons (47 children, 27 women and 47 men) have been excavated from the two sites, and the remains of adult individuals (n=74) have been studied to determine the frequency and distribution of traumas. The average age of males in the analysed sample was 37.4 years, while the average age of females was 36.5 years. A total of 573 long bones were analysed. The overall frequency of trauma on postcranial bones was 2.8% (16/573). In 14 persons (8 females and 6 males), signs of antemortem trauma were observed, while in 6 individuals (4 women and 2 men) perimortem trauma were observed. All perimortem traumas were caused by sharp bladed weapon (probably a sword or battle knife). The overall frequency of cranial trauma was 16.7%. Similar to the postcranial traumas, among these traumas there were several perimortem injuries. A comparison with a number of osteological series from Croatia and other parts of the world shows that the Crkvari and Kliškovac sample is specific because of the high frequency of cranial traumas and the large number of perimortem fractures. Considered together, these results indicate that there was a high risk of interhuman violence at the analysed sites. The fact that four out of six persons with perimortem cuts were women suggests that the observed injuries may have been the results of violence committed by swiftly-moving armed marauding gangs, set on terrorising and looting the civilian population, rather than the results of armed clashes between two military groups. Further multidisciplinary research incorporating osteological, archaeological and historical analysis is necessary to confirm the results obtained from this sample, and to attempt to identify specific episodes of intentional violence that resulted in the observed traumas.
Ključne riječi
paleopathology; perimortem traumas; intentional violence; Crkvari; Kliškovac; Middle Ages; Croatia
Hrčak ID:
12010
URI
Datum izdavanja:
5.4.2007.
Posjeta: 3.584 *