Possible Evidence for Homicide in an Egyptian Mummy Head

✍ Scribed by FRANZ PARSCHE; PETER BETZ; ANDREAS G. NERLICH

• Book ID: 102659132
• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1996
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 643 KB
• Volume: 6
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1047-482X
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1099-1212(199609)6:4<326::aid-oa275>3.0.co;2-y

✦ Synopsis

In the present paper we describe the macroscopic, radiological and histological findings for the head of an adult male Egyptian mummy, who presented with a round to oval defect of the left occipitotemporal bone covered by an almost intact layer of soft tissue and skin. The osseous defect showed infundibular widening into the cranial cavity, such as is seen in cases of depressed fracture due to a massive external force applied by a rather blunt weapon. In addition, the slightly increased thickness of the skull bone indicates that even higher mechanical force was necessary to punch out the defect than in other skulls. Because we assume that the defect occurred intravitally, the unusual constellation of this defect provides some evidence that it had occurred during a violent attack, possibly presenting the palaeopathological remnants of a case of homicide.