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. 2011 Dec 6;108(49):19558-62.
doi: 10.1073/pnas.1117113108. Epub 2011 Nov 21.

Antemortem trauma and survival in the late Middle Pleistocene human cranium from Maba, South China

Xiu-Jie Wu  1 , Lynne A Schepartz, Wu Liu, Erik Trinkaus
Affiliations

Antemortem trauma and survival in the late Middle Pleistocene human cranium from Maba, South China

Xiu-Jie Wu et al. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. .

Abstract

Paleopathological assessment of the late Middle Pleistocene archaic human cranium from Maba, South China, has documented a right frontal squamous exocranially concave and ridged lesion with endocranial protrusion. Differential diagnosis indicates that it resulted from localized blunt force trauma, due to an accident or, more probably, interhuman aggression. As such it joins a small sample of pre-last glacial maximum Pleistocene human remains with probable evidence of humanly induced trauma. Its remodeled condition also indicates survival of a serious pathological condition, a circumstance that is increasingly documented for archaic and modern Homo through the Pleistocene.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflict of interest.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
Right superolateral view of the Maba cranium showing the position (A) and detail (B) of the depressed lesion.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
Detail of the Maba 1 frontal squamous lesion showing the concentric ridges that developed within the lesion.
Fig. 3.
Fig. 3.
CT reconstructions and cross-sections in the area of the lateral frontal lesion. (A–C) Parasagittal view (A), superolateral view (B), and coronal view (C). Each view is oriented such that the external table of the lesion is above. The coronal view is looking posteriorly, such that the right side of the cranium is on the left.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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