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A prehistory of violence : Evidence of violence related skull trauma in southern Sweden, 2300-1100 BCE

Tornberg, Anna LU orcid (2022) The 15th Nordic Bronze Age Symposium In Acta Archaeologica Lundensia Series Prima in 4º p.99-118
Abstract
Warriors and warfare have become common themes within Bronze Age archaeology the past 10 -20 years. Recent reporting of Neolithic and Bronze Age massacres and battlefields in Germany supports endemic violence in these regions. But what about in southern Scandinavia? This paper explores the evidence of violence related skull trauma from a pooled sample of 257 individuals from 40 different localities in southern Sweden. The results show that there is a relatively large difference in the frequency of skull trauma depending on burial type. Due to the common practice of Early Bronze Age reburials in Late Neolithic gallery graves, the high frequency of trauma in gallery graves and barrows is probably linked to increased violence rates in the... (More)
Warriors and warfare have become common themes within Bronze Age archaeology the past 10 -20 years. Recent reporting of Neolithic and Bronze Age massacres and battlefields in Germany supports endemic violence in these regions. But what about in southern Scandinavia? This paper explores the evidence of violence related skull trauma from a pooled sample of 257 individuals from 40 different localities in southern Sweden. The results show that there is a relatively large difference in the frequency of skull trauma depending on burial type. Due to the common practice of Early Bronze Age reburials in Late Neolithic gallery graves, the high frequency of trauma in gallery graves and barrows is probably linked to increased violence rates in the Early Bronze Age. The majority of cases are caused by blunt force, and up to 13% of the individuals were affected. Most of the traumata were healed, especially among males. It is probable that the high levels of blunt force skull trauma in southern Sweden mirrors a society with endemic warfare during the Early Bronze Age. (Less)
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author
organization
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
host publication
Life and Afterlife in the Nordic Bronze Age : Proceedings of the 15th Nordic Bronze Age Symposium held in Lund 11th to 15th June 2019 - Proceedings of the 15th Nordic Bronze Age Symposium held in Lund 11th to 15th June 2019
series title
Acta Archaeologica Lundensia Series Prima in 4º
editor
Tornberg, Anna ; Svensson, Andreas and Apel, Jan
issue
37
pages
99 - 118
publisher
Department of Archaeology and Ancient History, Lund University
conference name
The 15th Nordic Bronze Age Symposium
conference location
Lund, Sweden
conference dates
2019-06-11 - 2019-06-15
ISSN
0065-1001
ISBN
978-91-89415-44-7
978-91-89415-43-0
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
c883f5c3-3b9c-44e2-966a-25120040ba5a
date added to LUP
2021-04-13 08:35:47
date last changed
2023-04-27 12:27:01
@inproceedings{c883f5c3-3b9c-44e2-966a-25120040ba5a,
  abstract     = {{Warriors and warfare have become common themes within Bronze Age archaeology the past 10 -20 years. Recent reporting of Neolithic and Bronze Age massacres and battlefields in Germany supports endemic violence in these regions. But what about in southern Scandinavia? This paper explores the evidence of violence related skull trauma from a pooled sample of 257 individuals from 40 different localities in southern Sweden. The results show that there is a relatively large difference in the frequency of skull trauma depending on burial type. Due to the common practice of Early Bronze Age reburials in Late Neolithic gallery graves, the high frequency of trauma in gallery graves and barrows is probably linked to increased violence rates in the Early Bronze Age. The majority of cases are caused by blunt force, and up to 13% of the individuals were affected. Most of the traumata were healed, especially among males. It is probable that the high levels of blunt force skull trauma in southern Sweden mirrors a society with endemic warfare during the Early Bronze Age.}},
  author       = {{Tornberg, Anna}},
  booktitle    = {{Life and Afterlife in the Nordic Bronze Age : Proceedings of the 15th Nordic Bronze Age Symposium held in Lund 11th to 15th June 2019}},
  editor       = {{Tornberg, Anna and Svensson, Andreas and Apel, Jan}},
  isbn         = {{978-91-89415-44-7}},
  issn         = {{0065-1001}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  number       = {{37}},
  pages        = {{99--118}},
  publisher    = {{Department of Archaeology and Ancient History, Lund University}},
  series       = {{Acta Archaeologica Lundensia Series Prima in 4º}},
  title        = {{A prehistory of violence : Evidence of violence related skull trauma in southern Sweden, 2300-1100 BCE}},
  url          = {{https://lup.lub.lu.se/search/files/125047363/Tornberg_NBAS.pdf}},
  year         = {{2022}},
}