Detecting violence in the archaeological record: Clarifying the timing of trauma and manner of death in cases of cranial blunt force trauma among pre-Columbian Amerindians of West-Central Illinois

Abstract

Confidence in the timing of cranial blunt force trauma and manner of death is needed in order to address violence in antiquity. This paper sought to highlight difficulties in the interpretation of perimortem trauma using examples from the Schild site (AD 700-1200). During excavations in 1962, archaeologist Gregory Perino claimed two victims with celt wounds to the head and six with crushed skulls. Heilman and colleagues (1991) confirmed the head injuries and found additional cases. The author continued the investigation and looked for more cases. Impact characteristics were compared to examples of damage at Schild caused by known taphonomic factors. Although seventeen potentially lethal injuries were observed, confidence in classifying the trauma as time of death lessened under the scrutiny of forensic methodologies and the application of a cluster analysis. The author pursued additional lines of evidence that included the burial context and weapon-related trauma. The evaluation of perimortem trauma at Schild demonstrated that (1) perimortem fracturing may not always represent time of death injuries, (2) perimortem fracturing may not always be indicative of homicide, and (3) all homicides do not necessarily reflect violent acts committed by non-community members.