A Re-appraisal of the Evidence for Violence in the Late Iron Age Human Remains from Maiden Castle Hillfort, Dorset, England

Abstract

The human remains excavated by Sir Mortimer Wheeler from Maiden Castle hillfort (Dorset, England) were recorded by the author in the first re-examination of the sample since Wheeler's 1943 publication. This study focuses on the osteological evidence for trauma, and employed bioarchaeological, clinical, and forensic methods to identify and interpret the skeletal evidence for ante- and peri-mortem fractures, blunt-force cranial trauma, and sharp and blunt projectile injuries. Examination of the human remains found overwhelming evidence for targeted blows to the head and body, assault injuries, and over-kill. Skeletal evidence for trauma was identified in adolescent and adult individuals, suggesting that both sexes and older subadults were exposed to and/or engaged in martial activity during the Late Iron Age. The presence of healed direct-force traumas suggests that many had survived previous episodes of interpersonal violence. The higher crude prevalence rates of trauma in the late Iron Age Belgic war cemetery and Iron Age C groups suggest that these burials reflect multiple episodes of intra- or intertribal warfare and may potentially provide evidence for the Roman invasion inad43.