“Buck and Ball”: Identification and interpretation of buckshot injuries to the pelvis from the War of 1812

Lockau, Laura; Gilmour, Rebecca J.; Menard, Jean-Paul; Dragomir, Ana-Maria; Mant, Madeleine; Watamaniuk, Lelia; Brickley, Megan

doi:10.1016/j.jasrep.2016.02.032

Cited by 3 publications

(4 citation statements)

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“…(2) Evaluation of skeletal trauma is especially important when studying historical warfare, where evidence of trauma provides objective information that may be used to reconstruct historical accounts of conflict or understand ancient violence where contextual information is absent. (36,(37)(38)(39)40) King Richard III died in 1485 during the Battle of Bosworth Field. Historical accounts of his death exist but his remains were not discovered until 2012.…”

Section: Remainsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…(37) Lesions found in the pelvic bones of two individuals from the Battle of Stoney Creek during the War of 1812 were determined to be consistent with buckshot ammunition, thus representing the first identification of this type of injury and adding objective evidence to battle conditions. (38) As outlined in "The (Not-So) Ancient Practice of Anatomical Trophy Taking: An Emphasis on Penile Dismemberment," genital trophy taking and mutilation were common in past conflict. (1) Evidence of these practices may be found in skeletal remains.…”

Section: Remainsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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A Critical Picture of Racism, Trophy Taking, and Forensics: Life Magazine May 22, 1944 “Picture of the Week”

Coiner¹,

Rabinowitz²,

Kapp³

et al. 2022

IJUH

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Introduction: The 2020 American Urological Association (AUA) Retrospectroscope Award winning presentation investigated the history of war trophies. Included was Life magazine’s May 22, 1944 “Picture of the Week” showing a young American woman gazing at a skull sent by her boyfriend serving in the Pacific theater of WWII. The caption claimed the skull was from a Japanese soldier “picked up on a New Guinea beach.” The displaying of human remains so casually in a magazine brings up the ethical considerations behind how we use human remains in medicine, art, museums, and collections. Identification and interpretation of bony characteristics and injuries from skeletonized human remains can help demystify medical history, reconstruct battles, and bring identity back to the faceless. We investigated what forensic and paleopathology techniques can tell us about battlefield human remains including the Life skull. Sources and Methods: We reviewed the literature for information about the Life skull and characterization of physical traits and traumatic injuries that can be assessed from skeletal remains. Results: Taking ‘trophies’ from human remains has occurred throughout human history. Anatomical trophy taking by US troops in the Pacific during WWII was fueled by rampant jingoism and anti-Asian racism of the time. Battlefield methods to remove soft tissue from bone included boiling, skinning, scrubbing, lye, and ants. Similar techniques are used by modern medical examiners. The tropical Pacific climate and lack of burial would have hastened natural decomposition of a fallen soldier. The bony pelvis and the skull are the two most useful parts of the skeleton for assessment of human remains. The pelvis is the most reliable bone in the human body for determining sex, followed by the skull. The pelvis and skull also aid in the determination of age at death. Estimation of likely ancestry primarily relies on the skull but is a challenging and increasingly controversial practice. Skeletal remains may show evidence of trauma to the pelvis and skull, providing clues as to cause of death. Pelvic injuries are associated with high rates of mortality from hemorrhage and disruption of the genitourinary system, and evidence of genital mutilation may be present. Forensic methods suggest the Life skull is consistent with male sex. Ancestry, age at death and age of the remains are unable to be determined from the photo. Publication of the Life skull led to public disapproval and an Army memorandum condemning the practice of taking enemy remains. Conclusions: The pelvis and the skull provide useful, objective evidence when studying victims of past wars. Accurate determination of age at death, sex, and likely ancestry may be established from skeletal remains. Forensic methods and paleopathology can help restore the humanity lost by the faceless victims of war.

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Section: Remainsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Remainsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Critical Picture of Racism, Trophy Taking, and Forensics: Life Magazine May 22, 1944 “Picture of the Week”

Coiner¹,

Rabinowitz²,

Kapp³

et al. 2022

IJUH

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

Section: Utilizing Forensic and Paleopathology Techniques For The Int...mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…(37)(Figure 3) Lesions found in the pelvic bones of two individuals from the Battle of Stoney Creek during the War of 1812 were determined to be consistent with buckshot ammunition, thus representing the first identification of this type of injury and adding objective evidence to battle conditions. (38) As outlined in "The (Not-So) Ancient Practice of Anatomical Trophy Taking: An Emphasis on Penile Dismemberment," genital trophy taking and mutilation were common in past conflict. (1) Evidence of these practices may be found in skeletal remains.…”

Section: Utilizing Forensic and Paleopathology Techniques For The Int...mentioning

confidence: 99%

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2022

IJUH

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The past teachesThe Cloisters Museum in Fort Tryon Park, New York contains more than 5,000 pieces of medieval domestic and religious art and represents the finest collection of Byzantine to early Renaissance masterpieces outside of Europe. Artwork had been originally collected by the eccentric American sculptor George Grey Barnard (1863Barnard ( -1938 and sold to John D. Rockefeller, Jr. (JDR) in 1925 who envisioned a grand residence in the medieval tradition to permanently house these treasures. The grounds were designed by Frederick Olmsted, Jr. and the building, designed by Charles Collens , incorporates designs and actual physical elements from French abbeys purchased, transported across the Atlantic, and reassembled in New York in the 1930s. Stained glass roundels were popular elements of many religious and secular windows as they were fairly easy to construct and install, and could be more easily replaced then the intricate glasswork involving hundreds of individually soldered pieces. The New York collector Roy G. Thomas sold a number of Upper Rhineland roundels from German c. 1480-1490 abbeys to JDR including a series on the life of Jesus. This month's cover of the International Journal of Urologic History features the "Roundel with Circumcision" and the abbreviated inscription "Nunc dimittis [[se]r[v]um tuu[m] d[omi]ne" or "Lord, you release your servant" [Luke 2:29]. The roundel is installed in the resplendent 'Glass Gallery' overlooking the Bonnefont Cloister facing the southern. Artwork depicting the circumcision of Jesus was a popular motif throughout medieval and Renaissance Europe, one of which is featured in the article by Lutnick et al. exploring early uses of anesthesia. The inset to the left reveals that at even at a diameter of just over 7 inches, the unknown artist is still able to portray the expansive subtleties of human Foreward

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Analysis and Interpretation of Trauma in Skeletal Remains

Lovell¹,

Grauer²

2018

Biological Anthropology of the Human Skeleton

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“Buck and Ball”: Identification and interpretation of buckshot injuries to the pelvis from the War of 1812

Cited by 3 publications

References 24 publications

A Critical Picture of Racism, Trophy Taking, and Forensics: Life Magazine May 22, 1944 “Picture of the Week”

A Critical Picture of Racism, Trophy Taking, and Forensics: Life Magazine May 22, 1944 “Picture of the Week”

Untitled

Analysis and Interpretation of Trauma in Skeletal Remains

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