Interpersonal Violence in the Archaeological Record

Evidence of interpersonal violence in past societies should be undertaken with caution because it impacts our views of the social and political relationships within these communities. Healing, depressed cranial lesions (HDCL) are often used as evidence of sub-lethal assault, but there are currently no standardized criteria for this diagnosis despite the fact that other pathological processes such as treponemal infections, porotic hyperostosis, scalp infections and dermal cysts can mimic HDCL. After a discussion of the general problem of diagnosing trauma in the bioarchaeological literature on violence, a case study from the Channel Islands of California (Middle - Early Historic Period) will be presented. Previous analyses of these populations in the 1980s and 90s reported some of the highest rates of cranial trauma in the world. In most cases, the diagnosed traumatic lesions took the form of HDCL, which were interpreted as evidence of ritualized, sub-lethal dueling. Preliminary data will be presented that suggests the reported rate of HDCL in this population is significantly affected by the degree of diagnostic certainty one is willing to accept. This will be followed by a discussion of how interpretations of violence in the past can impact present-day descendant communities. 

Cynthia Wilczak is an Associate Professor and Chair of the Department of Anthropology at San Francisco State University. She holds a doctorate from Cornell University and previously worked in the Office of Repatriation at the Smithsonian Institution. Her research includes work on skeletal responses to mechanical stress and paleopathology in Native American and historical US populations, including the individuals of the New York African Burial Ground. She is part of an international working group who developed the Coimbra Method for recording bony changes at the sites of muscle attachments (entheses).

Date
Thu February 6th 2020, 5:00 - 6:30pm
Location
Stanford Archaeology Center
Event Sponsor
Archaeology Center
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