Journal
ARCHAEOMETRY
Volume 64, Issue 2, Pages 511-528Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1111/arcm.12704
Keywords
Croatian Istria; Early Bronze Age; Mompaderno cranium; sharp force trauma; interpersonal violence; X-ray micro-tomography
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Funding
- Natural History Museum
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The study presents the findings of the Mompaderno cranium discovered in 1883 in Croatian Istria, dating back to the Early Bronze Age. Evidence of violent trauma and related infection were found on the cranium, providing rare and early evidence of interpersonal violence in the northern Adriatic region.
The Mompaderno cranium was found in 1883 at Baderna/Mompaderno in Croatian Istria. It was suspected to date from the Mesolithic or Neolithic 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.
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