MAIASP. 2025. No. 19 D.A. Kirichenko (Baku, Azerbaijan) NOTE ABOUT CRANIAL TRAUMAS AT MALES IN ANTIQUITY (AZERBAIJAN REPUBLIC)
The article examines male skulls with traumatic injuries of perimortem character from territory of Azerbaijan. The anthropological material comes from various types of burial monuments from the Antiquity period. The following materials were submitted for scientific processing: two male skulls from the stone cist burials of the Demirchi necropolis (Shamakhi district), a male skull from the pithos burial No. 1 of the Eminli necropolis (Masalli district), a male skull from a catacomb burial in Mingachevir, and a male skull from a pithos burial at the Shortepe settlement (Barda district). The examined skulls are shown injuries of various types, without signs of healing process. On the artificially deformed male skull from burial No.10 of the “stone box” type in the Demirchi necropolis, a depressed compression fracture of an oblong-round shape measuring 10 × 13 mm and 5 mm deep was noted (blunt force trauma); on the male skull from burial No. 11 of the “stone box” type in the Demirchi necropolis, a penetrating wound (“perforated” fracture) of an oblong-oval shape measuring 8 × 13 mm was noted (sharp force trauma); on the male artificially deformed skull from the catacomb burial in Mingachevir — a penetrating wound (“perforated” fracture) of a triangular shape, measuring 20 × 20 × 15 mm (sharp force trauma); on the male skull from the pithos burial No. 1 from the Eminli necropolis — a penetrating wound (“perforated” fracture) of an oblong-oval shape, measuring 55 × 13 mm (sharp force trauma); on the male skull from the pithos burial at the Shortepe settlement there is a sharp force trauma, oval in shape, 8.4 cm long and 2.1 cm wide was identified. The supposed types of weapons that caused the traumatic injuries were also noted. At the same time, at the territory of the South Caucasus, in addition to the cases from Azerbaijan, no fatal injuries (perimortem traumas) were found on male skulls. The high traumatism in the studying period indicates increased combat clashes and the aggressiveness of the social environment. Key words: Azerbaijan, Caucasian Albania, archaeology, burials, Antiquity, warfare, traumatic injuries. |