Objectives: To test a hypothesis on interpersonal violence events during the transition
between Chalcolithic and Bronze Age in the Eastern Pyrenees, to contextualize it
in Western Europe during that period, and to assess if these marks can be differentiated
from secondary funerary treatment.
Materials and Methods: Metric and non-metric methods were used to estimate the
age-at-death and sex of the skeletal remains. Perimortem injuries were observed and
analyzed with stereomicroscopy and confocal ...
Objectives: To test a hypothesis on interpersonal violence events during the transition
between Chalcolithic and Bronze Age in the Eastern Pyrenees, to contextualize it
in Western Europe during that period, and to assess if these marks can be differentiated
from secondary funerary treatment.
Materials and Methods: Metric and non-metric methods were used to estimate the
age-at-death and sex of the skeletal remains. Perimortem injuries were observed and
analyzed with stereomicroscopy and confocal microscopy.
Results: Among the minimum of 51 individuals documented, at least six people
showed evidence of perimortem trauma. All age groups and both sexes are represented
in the skeletal sample, but those with violent injuries are predominantly males.
Twenty-six bones had 49 injuries, 48 of which involved sharp force trauma on postcranial
elements, and one example of blunt force trauma on a cranium. The wounds
were mostly located on the upper extremities and ribs, anterior and posterior. Several
antemortem lesions were also documented in the assemblage.
Discussion: The perimortem lesions, together with direct dating, suggest that more
than one episode of interpersonal violence took place between the Late Chalcolithic
and the Early Bronze Age in northeastern Spain. The features of the sharp force
trauma indicate that different weapons were used, including sharp metal objects and
lithic projectiles. The Roc de les Orenetes assemblage represents a scenario of recurrent
lethal confrontation in a high mountain geographic context, representing the evidence
of inferred interpersonal violence located at the highest altitude settings in the
Pyrenees, at 1836 meters above sea level.
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