<abstract xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml"><p>In 1934 a grave was found in the church ruins of the Cistercian Abbey at Øm in central Jutland, Denmark (founded in 1172, demolished 1561 AD). The grave contained the skeletal remains of an individual lying in a supine position with the head towards the west. The anthropological analysis revealed that the remains belonged to a young male, aged 25-30 years at death and approximately 162.7 cm tall. He had 9 perimortem sharp force lesions, five of which were cranial and four were postcranial, indicating he suffered a violent death in a swordfight.</p><p>This paper presents a detailed analysis and description of the individual lesions and their probable effect on the soft tissue, followed by a suggestion for the most likely order of the blows which caused the lesions, and finally a tentative reconstruction of the battle accompanied by photographs. This case illustrates both that forensic pathology can be very useful when applied to an archaeological case and suggests that the forensic pathologist could benefit from examination of ancient cases when interpreting bone lesions in modern cases.</p></abstract>

In 1934 a grave was found in the church ruins of the Cistercian Abbey at Øm in central Jutland, Denmark (founded in 1172, demolished 1561 AD). The grave contained the skeletal remains of an individual lying in a supine position with the head towards the west. The anthropological analysis revealed that the remains belonged to a young male, aged 25-30 years at death and approximately 162.7 cm tall. He had 9 perimortem sharp force lesions, five of which were cranial and four were postcranial, indicating he suffered a violent death in a swordfight.This paper presents a detailed analysis and description of the individual lesions and their probable effect on the soft tissue, followed by a suggestion for the most likely order of the blows which caused the lesions, and finally a tentative reconstruction of the battle accompanied by photographs. This case illustrates both that forensic pathology can be very useful when applied to an archaeological case and suggests that the forensic pathologist could benefit from examination of ancient cases when interpreting bone lesions in modern cases.

The death of a medieval Danish warrior. A case of bone trauma interpretation

Scandinavian Journal of Forensic Science

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

{"article-title":"The death of a medieval Danish warrior. A case of bone trauma interpretation"}

In 1934 a grave was found in the church ruins of the Cistercian Abbey at Øm in central Jutland, Denmark (founded in 1172, demolished 1561 AD). The grave...

The death of a medieval Danish warrior. A case of bone trauma interpretation

Published Online: Aug 22, 2017

Page range: 13 - 20

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/sjfs-2017-0001

Keywords
Forensic anthropology, bone lesions, medieval Denmark, warfare, swordfight, battle reconstruction, sharp force trauma

© 2017 Danish Society of Forensic Medicine

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

The death of a medieval Danish warrior. A case of bone trauma interpretation

Published Online: Aug 22, 2017

Page range: 13 - 20

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1515/sjfs-2017-0001

KeywordsForensic anthropology, bone lesions, medieval Denmark, warfare, swordfight, battle reconstruction, sharp force trauma

© 2017 Danish Society of Forensic Medicine

This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 3.0 License.

Keywords
Forensic anthropology, bone lesions, medieval Denmark, warfare, swordfight, battle reconstruction, sharp force trauma