Projectile, blunt, or sharp force trauma? A facial lesion on a Bronze Age skull from Uglemose, Denmark

Abstract

This study presents and discusses the differential diagnosis of a unique case of facial trauma. The adult male skull was excavated in 1948 from Uglemose (Owl Bog) outside of Birket, on the island of Lolland (Denmark). Carbon-14 samples from an adult tibia excavated with the skull dates to the end of the Danish Bronze Age and transition period into the pre-Roman Iron Age. The skull shows a traumatic ante-mortem lesion to the left maxilla, directly below the orbit, that opens into the maxillary sinus. The left margin of the injury is slightly rounded and angled into the lesion while the right margin is pulled out from the lesion and has a much sharper border, suggesting a directional force from left to right. A previous assessment of the lesion suggested that projectile trauma caused the injury, but the lesion does not conclusively demonstrate features of projectile trauma. CT scans and 3D visualization of the skull show no evidence of structural changes to the maxillary sinus to support a conclusion of projectile trauma. Differential diagnosis through macroscopic and microscopic analysis of the lesion would suggest rapid blunt force or slow sharp force trauma as a potential etiology. The aim of this case study is to discuss the potential mechanisms of injury, including type of trauma as well as accidental versus intentional etiologies.