Strong but not Unbeatable

Two Cases of Healed Severe Skull Trauma in Males Buried in Medieval Mass Graves (Kutná Hora-Sedlec, Czech Republic)

Datos Bibliográficos

ID21574044
AutoresHana Brzobohatá (0000-0002-4609-6402, Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Archaeology, Prague), Filip Velímský (0000-0003-0695-2064, Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Archaeology, Prague), Jan Frolík (0000-0002-1776-1311, Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Archaeology, Prague)
Año2021
Volumen34
Páginas25-37
Fecha de publicación2021-12-13
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessSí
TipoARTICLE
RevistaFasciculi Archaeologiae Historicae (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 0860-0007 • E-ISSN: 2719-7069
EditorialInstitute of Archaeology and Ethnology, Polish Academy of Sciences (PUBLISHER • PL)
DOI10.23858/fah34.2021.002
OpenAlexW4200517797
IdiomaEN
Referencias citadas12

This paper presents two cases of healed skull trauma recovered from medieval mass burial sites in Kutná Hora-Sedlec (Kutná Hora District/CZ). These recently unearthed burial pits are historically and contextually associated with two key catastrophes: (1) a famine in the early 14th century; and (2) the Black Death in the mid-14th century. The first skull presents evidence of survival from severe cranial injury with highly probable surgical intervention. The second one presents evidence of successful skull surgery, confirming the practice of trepanation performed by a skilled specialist in a given region at a given time in history. Although both individuals had been robust enough to withstand the pain and strain of the treatment, indicating considerable resilience to survive the skull trauma, they succumbed to mass infection or famine that killed a large number of inhabitants of this prominent medieval mining region

Ancient history · Archaeology · Cranial trauma · Famine · Skull · Forensic and Genetic Research · Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies · History · Medicine · Traumatic Ocular and Foreign Body Injuries · Surgery