Patterns of Cranial Trauma in a Prehistoric Population from Central California

Bibliographic Data

ID12371132
AuthorsRobert Jurmain (San Jose State University, corresponding author), Viviana Bellifemine (San Jose State University), Viviana Ines Bellifemine
Year1997
Volume7
Issue1
Pages43-50
Publication date1997-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueInternational Journal of Osteoarchaeology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1047-482X • E-ISSN: 1099-1212
PublisherWiley (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1002/(sici)1099-1212(199701)7:1<43::aid-oa316>3.3.co;2-4
OpenAlexW4245231802
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited3

Evidence of cranial trauma was investigated in a skeletal sample from the site CA-Ala-329 located on the eastern side of San Francisco Bay, Central California. The sample included 365 crania, including 134 adult males, 104 adult females, 22 adults of indeterminate sex and 105 subadults. Evidence of cranio-facial fracture was found in eight individuals, one of whom is an adolescent. Thus, the frequency in adult crania of traumatic injury is 7/260 (2.7 per cent). Of the seven individuals of known sex displaying such cranial trauma, all are male. The injuries are generally suggestive of some form of interpersonal aggression, with five healed vault fractures, one lesion with an embedded obsidian fragment (a probable projectile point) and two healed facial fractures. Further clear evidence of interpersonal aggression has been previously determined in this sample and has been reported at even higher levels elsewhere in California. © 1997 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd

Crania · Cranial trauma · Cranial vault · Facial trauma · Injury prevention · Interpersonal violence · Medical emergency · Poison control · Population · Skull · Cleft Lip and Palate Research · Dental Trauma and Treatments · Forensic Anthropology and Bioarchaeology Studies · Medicine · Traumatic Ocular and Foreign Body Injuries · Anatomy · Demography · Surgery