Traumatic injuries and imperialism: The effects of Egyptian colonial strategies at Tombos in upper Nubia

Abstract

As circumstances of conquest change, leaders of empires must adapt their colonial strategies in order to be successful. One example of such modification in approach is the shift from Middle Kingdom to New Kingdom Egyptian colonial activities in Nubia. During the Middle Kingdom (2050-1650 BC) Egypt used aggressive military campaigns to subdue the strong Nubian polity at Kerma, resulting in the construction of fortresses and many victory stelae. In the subsequent New Kingdom period (1550-1050 BC) during which the Egyptian administration succeeded in occupying nearly all of Nubia, changes were necessary in conquest strategies. Diplomacy and cooperation may have replaced military action as mechanisms of control. This article investigates changes in imperial policy through the examination of traumatic injuries in human skeletal remains. Patterns of injuries in a sample from the site of Tombos, an Egyptian colonial cemetery in Nubia dating to the New Kingdom period, are compared with data on the patterns of injuries from Kerma, a cemetery dating to the Middle Kingdom period, published by Judd (2004). Analysis indicates a decrease in the level of traumatic injuries from Kerma to Tombos supporting the idea that through time the Egyptian administration modified their colonial strategy toward more nonviolent means. This article presents data on differences in the patterns of injury at Tombos and Kerma and explores possible explanations for this variation.

Paleoepidemiological patterns of interpersonal aggression in a prehistoric central California population from CA‐ALA‐329

“…Several contributions have concentrated more specifically on probable evidence of interpersonal aggression (Walker, 1989;Smith, 1996Smith, , 1997Smith, , 2003Lambert, 1994Lambert, , 1997Jurmain and Bellifemine, 1997;Ogilvie and Hilton, 2000;Standen and Arriaza, 2000;Dawson et al, 2003;Willey and Emerson, 1993;Williamson et al, 2003;Lessa and Mendonça de Souza, 2004;Judd, 2006Judd, , 2008Roksandic et al, 2006;Torres-Rouff and Costa Junqueira, 2006;Buzon and Richman, 2007;Tung, 2007;Steadman, 2008).…”

Hip fractures in the Portuguese archaeological record

“…A few years ago, Brickley (2002) stated that there were only two published cases of hip fracture in archaeologically derived bone, one from Roman Britain (Roberts and Manchester, 1995) and another from 12th dynasty Egypt (Dequeker et al, 1997), but evidence of fracture of the proximal femur in the archaeological record is growing (e.g. Stroud and Kemp, 1993;Bartonícek and Vlcek, 2001;Campillo, 2001;Ibáñez, 2001;Ferreira and Silva, 2002;Mays, 2006;Buzon and Richman, 2007;Salter-Pedersen, 2007;Ives, 2007;Curate et al, 2010). These studies imply that this was undeniably an existing condition in past populations.…”

Evidence for weapon-related traumas in medieval Japan: observations of the human crania from Seiyokan

“…Andrushko et al, 2005;Buzon and Richman, 2007;Finucane, 2008;Murphy et al, 2002;Tung, 2007). Scientists have examined the weapon-related traumas of human skeletons as direct and objective evidence of violence in archeological and forensic contexts (e.g.…”