Abstract
Well-preserved human skull, two upper vertebral bodies, and bones of the right hand were found in a remote cave in the Jerusalem mountains. The individual was identified as an adult male, 30–40 years old, who was C-14 dated to the 11th century. It was attributed to the local, Bedouin population. The skull manifested four sharp force trauma lesions, resulted from interpersonal violence in different occasions: Two represent past events, one is peri-mortem, and one is the direct cause of death. The current manuscript describes the pathologies and discusses possible interpretations, which combine physical anthropology with archaeology, history, and ethnography altogether.
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 162-167 |
| Number of pages | 6 |
| Journal | International Journal of Osteoarchaeology |
| Volume | 29 |
| Issue number | 1 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - 1 Jan 2019 |
Bibliographical note
Publisher Copyright:© 2018 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Funding
The documentation of the cave was carried out by the last author on behalf of the Martin (Szusz) Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology at Bar-Ilan University, with assistance from the Cave Research Unit at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Israel Nature and Parks Authority (INPA). Shemesh Ya'aran and Yotham Zissu prepared the plan and section. Skull photos were taken by K. Amit, IAA.
| Funders | Funder number |
|---|---|
| Department of Land of Israel Studies and Archaeology at Bar-Ilan University | |
| Israel Nature and Parks Authority | |
| Hebrew University of Jerusalem |
Keywords
- Bedouins
- blood vengeance
- cut marks
- palaeopathology
- trauma
