Employment of Computed Tomography in the Study of Traumata Scored from Two Adults from Croatian Bioarchaeology Uporaba računalne tomografije u proučavanju ozljeda dviju odraslih osoba iz hrvatske bioarheologije

Computed tomography (CT) was employed in the study of two adults’ traumata from Croatian bioarchaeology – a female from a secondary archaeological context (Zagajci) and male from a medieval burial complex (Zvonimirovo). Injuries were considered in reference to possible violent acts versus accidents. Our aim went two ways: an isolated Zagajci cranium with healed depressed fracture to the frontal bone (case 1), was investigated as to assess insight into a possible impact effect of the injury on the inner table. An isolated case from the early Zvonimirovo collection with healed left ulna/clavicle fractures and the mandibular tooth relic (case 2), was investigated as to obtain detailed radiological data on other possible (root) traumata. The female CT scans showed a depressed fracture penetrating the inner table – suggestive of aggressive blow to the forehead with hard-blunt object. The male CT scans generated unhealed (perimortal) left maxillary root fractures. Different time implications suggested by antemortal/perimortal traumata offer alternative traumatic scenarios for the male: traumata could be sustained in (different time) accidents due to the absence of (antemortal/perimortal) cranial bone traumata; however in terms of the medieval context one cannot exclude the two-step scenario whereby repeated injuries to the left body side could be suggestive of several episodes of violence as follows: firstly a man could sustain a blow to the left forearm raised in defense; possibly co-occurring fractured clavicle might be suggestive of the fall that followed. Different time blow to the chin, whereby the lower teeth could violently hit the upper causing indirect (perimortal) root fractures, might be suggestive of posttraumatic implications accounting for the death of individual.