Most studies on fracture morphology of fresh or dry bones, specifically skull bones, have a limited focus, and they are often based on observations rather than experimental tests. This study characterized pig cranial fractures sustained under known impact conditions. An impact machine (mobile carriage guided by columns) was used to perform a fracture on each skull. Impacts were performed at the same energy level on fresh and dry bones, with two types of impactor: a sharp striker (n = 50) and a blunt striker (n = 50). We found distinct features under different conditions, including osseous flakes on fresh bones, 90° fracture angles on dry bones, and more fractures with greater fragmentation on dry bones. These features highlighted the effects of time on perimortem fracture characteristics and the importance of bone storage conditions in the study of fracture genesis.
Background. No reference is currently available to differentiate fresh and dry bone fractures, caused intentionally or not, for the cranial skeleton. The authors therefore extrapolated characteristics already validated on infra-cranial bones to the skull bones.Methods. We studied four osteological series which had undergone prior interdisciplinary study to determine the etiology of the fractures.Results. This analysis allows comparisons to be made between fresh and dry skull bone fractures and enables us to discuss and validate the characteristics traditionally used for the intra-cranial skeleton: fracture angle, cortical delamination, roughness, fracture outline, presence of bone flakes.Conclusions. Fracture angle, cortical delamination, roughness and fracture outline can be used effectively on osteological series, not on an isolated sample or when taken out of context. We determined that, for an isolated piece of bone, only a large cortical delamination (greater than 10.5 mm) suggests a fresh bone fracture.
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