Abstract
Trauma analysis provides important information on the scale of violence, hazards associated with daily activities, the reoccurrence of conflicts as well as whether injuries lead to death. In contrast to modern cases, bioarchaeological samples are often less extensively studied. This research provides the first detailed analysis on fatal interpersonal conflict in the Early Medieval Italian Alps. Individual SK63 was buried within the early Christian church (5th-8th centuries AD) of Säben-Sabiona in South Tyrol (Italy) in Christian funerary tradition. The skeleton underwent a detailed macroscopic, microscopic and metric analysis, whereby signs of trauma detected on the cranial and postcranial skeleton were in particular focus. SK63 was a 19-25 year old male. Trauma analysis identified at least 29 lesions, consisting of three possible antemortem injuries and 26 perimortem sharp force trauma on the cranium (n=4) and postcranium (n=22). More than half of the injuries were located on the left side (69%, 19/26), whereby the ribs and spine were most often affected (50%, 9/18), followed by the bones of the upper limbs and shoulder girdle (28%, 5/18). In contrast to this, 80% (4/5) of the cut marks on the skull were located on the right side. The trauma pattern observed indicates that interpersonal violence rather than a large-scale conflict led to the death of SK63. Further, the injury typology and appearance indicate the use of different bladed weapons to inflict trauma.