What Happened to the Victims? Constructing a Model of Care for Cranial Trauma from Non-lethal Violence at Carrier Mills, Illinois (8000 – 2500 BP)

Summary

This is an abstract from the "Systems of Care in Times of Violence" session, at the 84th annual meeting of the Society for American Archaeology.

A different model of care is required for trauma resulting from non-lethal violence. In the prehistoric Midwest, raiding and warfare were endemic, making trauma from non-lethal violence a part of everyday life. As such, the peoples living in this region would have needed a model of care specifically designed to treat individuals suffering from traumatic injuries resulting from non-lethal violence. This paper examines cranial depression fractures (CDFs) on skeletal remains from Carrier Mills, Illinois (8000 -2500 BP) and highlights the model of care required for cranial trauma resulting from non-lethal violence. Sixteen individuals (10 males, 5 females, and 1 subadult) had CDFs severe enough to require direct healthcare and accommodation to survive their injuries. A general model of care for CDFs is constructed to highlight the similarities and differences of caring for each case. This paper indicates that the people of Carrier Mills were no strangers to violence yet they provided healthcare for members of the community who survived the raiding and warfare endemic to their region.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• Systems of Care in Times of Violence   •
• Society for American Archaeology 84th Annual Meeting, Albuquerque, NM (2019)

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Spatial Coverage

Record Identifiers

Abstract Id(s): 22848