1. R.R. Paine1, D. Mancinelli2, V. d’Ercole3 & A. Coppa4
The frequency of cranial trauma among the Iron Age Vestini of Abruzzi, Italy
R.R. Paine1, D. Mancinelli2, V. d’Ercole3 & A. Coppa4
1Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX; 2 Dipartimento di Scienze Ambientali, Università de L’Aquila, Italy; 3Museo di Preistoria, Soprintendenza Archeologica dell’Abruzzo, Celeno, Italy; 4Dipartimento di Biologia Animale e dell’Uomo, Università La Sapienza di Roma, Italy.
Results
A number of cranial traumas were recorded for both male and female adults (Photos 4-10). Figure 2 provides a summary of their location and type by sex, while tables 3-5 offer an assessment of the type and frequency of trauma by sex and by site.
Table 3. The distribution of cranial trauma by skeletal element, Fossa site burials.
Total cranial population defined by sex is 131, of which 10 individuals exhibit trauma lesions. Number of trauma features = 11, which involves 11 bones.
PL and PR represent the left and right parietal bones (n = 8); FL and FR represent the left and right frontal bone (n = 1); OL and OR represent the left and right occipital bones (n = 2).
Table 4. Fossa: trauma type, rate, and location by sex and by combined sample.
Table 5. Fisher’s exact test results for an assessment by sex and by site.
Alfedena data from (Paine et al., 2007).
Introduction
The Vestini necropolis of Fossa is an Iron Age cemetery located in the mountains of Abruzzi, Italy (Photos 1 & 2). The necropolis is located in the alluvial river valley of Aterno, near the modern village of Fossa, Abruzzo, Italy. The site dates back to the 10th – 1st centuries BC (Fig. 1).
The purpose of this presentation is to report on the frequency of cranial trauma observed for 135 adult remains. This data is critical since few samples from Italy have been examined with this purpose (Paine et al., 2007). This research provides comparative data to work already conducted on another Iron Age sample from the same region; the Samnites from the burial site of Alfedena, Italy. P D D S D S S S S
Sex n
Trauma P PL PR F FL FR O OL OR
Male 4
100 50
Female 6 7
66.6 25 75 16
33.3
Background
The burials from the necropolis site of Fossa represent a distinct cultural group living in the Iron Age – Early Roman period of Italy. This is a community that relied on pastoral products and trade for their livelihood. They are considered to be part of the Sabine tribal community. The Vestini tribe became part of the Roman alliance in 302 BC. and they were able to retain independence from Rome for at least 100 years after forming this alliance. They spoke a Northern Oscan dialect which was part of the Italic language family.
The samples reported on in this presentation represent burials from the last two cultural stages, BC and BC. No samples from the earlier period ( BC) showed signs of cranial trauma. Many of the male burials held artifacts related to warfare (shields, knives, swords). S n
Projectile
Sharp force injury
Blunt force
Total
Parietal 8
12.5 50
37.5
8/11 (72.7)
Frontal 1
100
1/11 (9.0)
Occipital 2 2
2/11 (18.2)
Total
7/11 (63.6)
3/11 (27.3) S
Figure 2. Location of trauma features for the Fossa samples, n = 11. Red equals female cases, blue represents male cases. P represents projectile injuries; S represents sharp force injuries; D represents depressed fractures. n p SE
Null hypothesis
Fossa males & females
135
accepted
Alfedena & Fossa males
235
rejected
Alfedena & Fossa females
122
Alfedena & Fossa total
343
Hypothesis testing: Statistical evaluation of the data is done using Fisher’s exact test,
2-tailed. We tested the null hypothesis that there is no statistically significant difference
in cranial rate between the sexes. Similar tests are performed to determine the difference
between two Iron Age sites, Fossa & Alfedena.
Photos 1 & 2. The site of Fossa in the region of Abruzzo, Italy.
The circular structures are burial locations within the Vestini necropolis.
Figure 1. Location of the
Fossa site
Conclusions
Our results are compared to the Samnites of Alfedena (n= 209), another culturally distinct Iron Age Abruzzi community. Initially, we assumed that Vestini males would exhibit considerably more trauma than females (as did the Alfedena males, Paine et al., 2007) they did not. The difference in the frequency of trauma by sex for the Vestini sample is not significant; their rate of trauma by sex clearly does not follow the pattern exhibited by the Samnites. This suggests that the social pressures on these groups differed and that Italian Iron Age history of warfare is complex.
Additionally, there is a significant difference in the frequency of trauma among Vestini by cultural stage. Eight of the 10-trauma cases occurred among individuals from the last cultural stage (350-0 BC), while trauma was not found among individuals from the earliest cultural period ( BC). Explanations for this include: 1. more stressors experienced in the later cultural period than the earlier periods accounting for an increase in conflict between Iron Age communities (or among the Vestini villages); 2.it is also possible that differential preservation has limited our ability to observe trauma for the earlier burials.
Further evaluation of the archaeological record may help in providing a clearer understanding for these differences.
We examined each adult burial for trauma to the cranium (Kimmerle &
Baraybar 2008; Lovell 1997;Mann & Murphy 1990; Merbs 1989).
Table 1. The number of Fossa individuals examined
(*) number of cases with trauma.
Table 2. Age of Fossa burials with trauma.
Male
Female
Unknown
Total
Number of crania
68 (4)
63 (6)
3 (0)
134 (10)
Mean age
42.4 yrs
41.8 yrs
42.5 yrs
42 yrs
Photo 7. Perimortem sharp force wound.
Female, 43 years old.
Photo 6. A healed sharp force wound.
Trauma cases
Male (4)
Female (6)
Mean age (range)
36.7 yrs (27-51)
42.3 (27-56)
Photo 3. An elaborate funeral bone bed, an
example of the Vestini artistic skills.
References
Kimmerle EH & JP Baraybar Skeletal Trauma: Identification of injuries resulting from human rights abuse and armed conflict. CRC press, Boca Raton.
Lovell NC (1997) Trauma analysis in paleopathology. Yearbook of Physical Anthropology. 40:
Mann RW and S Murphy (1990) Regional Atlas Of Bone Disease. Charles C Thomas Publishers. Springfield, IL.
Merbs CF (1989) Trauma. In SR Saunders & MA Katzenberg (eds.): Reconstruction of Life from the Skeleton. Wiley-Liss, Inc., pp
Paine RR, D Mancinelli, M Ruggieri, A Coppa Cranial trauma in Iron Age Samnite Agriculturists from Alfedena, Italy: Implications for biocultural and economic stress. American Journal of Physical Anthropology 132:48-58.
Acknowledgements:
We are grateful to T. Delahunty and the Center for Geospatial Technology (TTU) for their help with printing the poster.
Photo 8. Perimortem projectile injury to the
cranium. Female, 56 years old.
Photo 5. Antemortem injury made by a Sharp force weapon. Male, 42 years old.
Photo 4. Healed blunt force trauma.
Female 27 years old.
Photo 9. An endocranial view on the
projectile injury seen in photo 6.
Photo 10. Perimortem projectile injury to the cranium.