Yan Liu: A snapshot of death- an archaeological skull with perimortem fracture

My research aims to explore the dynamic relationship between skeletal injuries and the natural environment, subsistence strategies and conflicts in the eastern Eurasian Steppe, from the late Neolithic period to the early Iron Age. This well-preserved skull was excavated from the Bizili Site (206 BCE-8 CE), Xinjiang, China. A depressed fracture was observed on the lambda, affecting parietal and occipital bones. The photo is the internal view of the injury, taken by an endoscope camera. Broken fragments are still attached to the skull, indicating the fracture occurred at or near the time of death. It was probably associated the death.