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Violence in the Early Bronze Age. Diagnosis of skull lesions using anthropological, taphonomic and scanning electron microscopy techniques

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Abstract

In this paper we present the study of a skull belonging to a young male from the Italian Bronze Age showing three perimortem injuries on the frontal and parietal bones; the peculiarity of the frontal injury is represented by its singular shape, which may be indicative of the weapon that caused the lesion. The aim of the present study is to examine the traumatic evidence in relation to possible etiological factors, in order to attempt to establish if the lesion occurred peri or post-mortem, and to evaluate if these traumatic injuries could be interpreted as an evidence of interpersonal violence, by combining anthropological, taphonomic and ESEM investigations. The combination of multidisciplinary methods of study can provide important new insights into inter-personal violence.

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Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge Rita Bovolenta, Valentina Russo and Simonetta Zonari for technical support. Thanks also to Vanessa Manzon and Letizia Fazzari for collaboration in preliminary studies.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biomedical Sciences and Surgical Specialties, Faculty of Medicine, Pharmacy and Prevention, University of Ferrara, Corso Ercole I d’Este 32, 44121, Ferrara, Italy

    Alba Pasini, Emanuela Gualdi-Russo & Filippo Scianò

  2. Department of Humanities, University of Ferrara, Ferrara, Italy

    Ursula Thun Hohenstein

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  1. Alba Pasini
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  2. Emanuela Gualdi-Russo
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  3. Filippo Scianò
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  4. Ursula Thun Hohenstein
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Correspondence to Emanuela Gualdi-Russo.

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Pasini, A., Gualdi-Russo, E., Scianò, F. et al. Violence in the Early Bronze Age. Diagnosis of skull lesions using anthropological, taphonomic and scanning electron microscopy techniques. Forensic Sci Med Pathol 15, 324–328 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12024-018-0054-z

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12024-018-0054-z

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