The traumas that can be observed in the human skeleton constitute the most direct evidence of the episodes of interpersonal violence and are frequently documented in the archaeological record since they have accompanied us throughout all periods of our history. The first cases have been dated to the Paleolithic, but it is from the Neolithic onwards then this behavior increases exponentially. Blows with blunt objects, impacts of projectiles, or cut marks are some examples of injuries linked to violent events. However, determining the type of object that was used as a weapon is not always possible.<\/p>\n
A new study published these days in the International Journal of Paleopathology<\/em>, carried out by research staff from the del Institut Catal\u00e0 de Paleoecologia Humana i Evoluci\u00f3 Social (IPHES-CERCA), the Rovira i Virgili University (URV) and the University of Barcelona (UB), has identified a case of cranial trauma at the site of Cova Foradada (Calafell, Tarragona). This is an individual of about 50 years of age, who died violently from the impact of a stone adze, a type of hoe, about 5000 years ago.<\/p>\n Miguel \u00c1ngel Moreno-Ib\u00e1\u00f1ez, a predoctoral researcher at IPHES-CERCA, and main author of the article points out that the fracture pattern observed in the cranium \u201chas allowed us to infer the type of object that was used to cause the death of this individual, as well as the direction of the blow\u201d. The skull was found in 1999 during a rescue excavation in the Cova Foradada, in Calafell (Tarragona). It belongs to a man about 50 years old and is part of a collective burial from the Late Neolithic \u2013 Chalcolithic period (5060 \u2013 4400 years before the present).<\/p>\n