Bioarchaeology of the Near East, 8:29-52 (2014)

Trauma in human remains from Bronze Age and Iron Age archaeological sites in Armenia

Anahit Khudaverdyan
Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography,
National Academy of Science, Republic of Armenia,
Yerevan, 0025, Charents st.15, Armenia
email: ankhudaverdyan@gmail.com, akhudaverdyan@mail.ru

Abstract: This paper reports on the prevalence of traumatic bone lesions among Bronze and Iron Age populations in Armenia. A total of 51 traumatic injuries were observed in a sample of 147 individuals from 8 sites. Injuries were present in 37 males (46.3%, n=80), 13 females (28.9%, n=45), and 1 child (5%, n=20). In four sites (N. Getashen, Noraduz, Shirakavan and Lori Berd) the most affected age class was 20-29 years, in two other sites (Sarukhan and Arszvakar), the most affected age class was 40-65 years. Some kinds of trauma may be attributed to inter-personal violence, although it was not possible to distinguish between intra-community (e.g. domestic) and inter-community violence.

Key words: skeletal trauma; warfare; fractures

Received 25 February 2013; accepted 17 December 2013; published online 7 January 2014.

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