Palaeoepidemiological Patterns of Trauma in a Medieval Nubian Skeletal Population

Kilgore, Lynn; Jurmain, Robert; Gerven, Dennis Van

doi:10.1002/(sici)1099-1212(199703)7:2<103::aid-oa319>3.0.co;2-5

Cited by 58 publications

(24 citation statements)

References 9 publications

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“…This method of analysis, now standard, presents the trauma frequency for each element type (number of fractured elements per number of elements observed) and the overall fracture rate (total number of fractured bones per total number of bones observed). While the numbers of individuals who bore a forearm injury involving both the radius and ulna may be stated (e.g., Grauer and Roberts, 1996;Judd and Roberts, 1999;Jurmain, 1991;Kilgore et al, 1997), the presence of the complementary bone is unreported if it is uninjured, which hinders the researcher's interpretation of the injury mechanism. This omission was tackled by Alvrus (1999) who, in her analysis of Nubian long bone fractures, reported the presence or absence of the associated radius, injury location on the shaft and presence of rotation.…”

Section: Background To the Parry Problemmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Injury patterns provide a means to understand ancient life ways and behavior, for example, interpersonal relations among community members, external relations, attitudes towards others, environmental or occupational hazards, medical knowledge, and also the consequences of injuries for the individual and the community (Brickley and Smith, 2006;Buzon and Richman, 2007;Judd, 2002a;Kilgore et al, 1997;Mays, 2006;Smith, 1996;Torres-Rouff and Junqueira, 2006). The ulna parry fracture is perhaps the most poorly defined and controversial injury owing to its implications for social behavior in ancient societies particularly interpersonal violence (e.g., Jurmain, 1999;Lovell, 1997).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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The parry problem

Judd

2008

Journal of Archaeological Science

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Section: Background To the Parry Problemmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The parry problem

Judd

2008

Journal of Archaeological Science

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“…One such example is the Monteggia fracture, a fracture of the proximal third of ulna with dislocation of the radius head. Paleopathologists consider the finding of a large number of Monteggia fractures in a skeletal series important because they may have been incurred while fending off a blunt attack, implying that the people lived in an environment where violence was rampant [1, 14, 30]. Although forearm fractures were commonly observed in the present study, each 1 involved the radius, with the exception of 1 element (case no.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 68%

“…Evidence of trauma is one of the most frequently observed medical signs in human skeletons from archaeological sites [1-4]. Osteological studies on traumatic injuries have recently evolved from simple case reports to in-depth, population-level investigations [5, 6].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Some studies have extended this line of inquiry further, investigating trauma patterns in association with socioeconomic conditions. In the process, medical knowledge of long-bone fractures in history has become much more comprehensive [1, 3, 7, 8]. Categories of traumatic injuries in historical skeleton samples include fracture, dislocation, and post-traumatic deformity.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Long bone fractures identified in the Joseon Dynasty human skeletons of Korea

Kim

et al. 2013

Anat Cell Biol

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Fracture is one of the pathological signs most frequently encountered in archaeologically obtained bones. To expand the paleopathological knowledge on traumatic injuries, it is desirable to secure data on long bone fractures from as wide a geographic and temporal range as possible. We present, for the first time, evidence of long bone fractures in a 16th-18th century Joseon skeletal series (n=96). In this study, we found 3 Colles' fractures of the radius in 2 individual cases. The pattern of fractures was unique. Although previous reports show that the ulna is broken more often than the radius, ulnar fracture associated with fending off a blunt attack was rare in our series (1/7 cases). Transverse fractures, typically caused by intentional violence, were also very rare (1/7 cases) in this study. These results may reflect the relatively tranquil lives of the Joseon people in 16th-18th century Korea. We also found post-fracture complications such as deformations, bone length shortening, and osteomyelitis. The present study would be of interest to medical scientists in related fields because it is one of the few studies conducted on long bone fractures among pre-modern societies in East Asian countries, thus far.

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Fracture trauma in a medieval British farming village

Judd

Roberts

1999

Am. J. Phys. Anthropol.

116

106

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Farming is among the three most hazardous occupations in modern society and perhaps also held a similar position during the medieval period. The goal of this study was to determine if there is a significant difference in frequencies and patterns of longbone fracture trauma observed between rural and urban activity bases that distinguish farming as a particularly dangerous occupation during the medieval period. The longbones of 170 individuals excavated from Raunds, a rural medieval British site (10th-12th centuries AD) were examined for fractures and compared to data collected from four contemporary British medieval sites, one rural and three urban. The fracture frequency for the Raunds individuals (19.4%) was significantly different from the urban sites (4.7-5.5%). Female fractures were characterized by injury to the forearm, while the males were predisposed to diverse fracture locations. Clinical research provided a source of documented farm-related trauma from North America and Europe where the crops and animals raised, the manual chores performed, and the equipment used in traditional or small-scale farms have changed little in form or function since the medieval period. Nonmechanized causes of injury contribute to approximately 40% of all modern farm-related injuries and are attributed to falls from lofts and ladders, animal assaults and bites, and falls from moving vehicles. These hazardous situations were also present in the medieval period and may explain some of the fracture trauma from the rural sites. A high fracture frequency for both medieval males and females is significantly associated with farming subsistence when compared to craft-orientated urban dwellers.

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Palaeoepidemiological Patterns of Trauma in a Medieval Nubian Skeletal Population

Cited by 58 publications

References 9 publications

The parry problem

The parry problem

Long bone fractures identified in the Joseon Dynasty human skeletons of Korea

Fracture trauma in a medieval British farming village

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