Evidence of Perimortem Trauma and Taphonomic Damage in a WWI Soldier from Romania
Author(s): Megan K Kleeschulte; Kathleen L Wheeler; Mihai Constantinescu; Thomas A Crist
Year: 2016
Summary
The remains of a World War I soldier recovered at the Comana Monastery in southern Romania provide a case study emphasizing how careful documentation of the archaeological context and effective communication between archaeologists and forensic anthropologists improve the accuracy of distinguishing perimortem trauma from postmortem taphonomic damage. Killed in battle, this soldier’s skeleton presented evidence of sharp force trauma, blast fractures, and postmortem damage from a mass burial and subsequent archaeological excavation. Collaborative analysis using photographs of the excavation together with current forensic anthropological methods proved essential in determining the sequence of perimortem injuries and establishing the most likely cause of the soldier’s death.
Cite this Record
Evidence of Perimortem Trauma and Taphonomic Damage in a WWI Soldier from Romania. Megan K Kleeschulte, Kathleen L Wheeler, Mihai Constantinescu, Thomas A Crist. Presented at Society for Historical Archaeology, Washington, D.C. 2016 ( tDAR id: 434862)
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Keywords
General
Bio archaeology
•
perimortem trauma
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Taphonomic Processes
Geographic Keywords
North America
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United States of America
Temporal Keywords
WWI
Spatial Coverage
min long: -129.199; min lat: 24.495 ; max long: -66.973; max lat: 49.359 ;
Individual & Institutional Roles
Contact(s): Society for Historical Archaeology
Record Identifiers
PaperId(s): 638