The death of Kaakutja: a case of peri-mortem weapon trauma in an Aboriginal man from north-western New South Wales, Australia

• Autores: Michael Westaway, Douglas Williams, Richard Wright, Rachel Wood, Jon Olley, Jaime Swift, Sarah Martin, Justine Kemp, Shane Rolton, William Bates
• Localización: Antiquity, ISSN 0003-598X, Vol. 90, Nº 353, 2016, págs. 1318-1333
• Idioma: inglés
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• Resumen

  • Skeletal remains from a burial in New South Wales exhibit evidence of fatal trauma, of a kind normally indicative of sharp metal weapons, yet the burial dates to the mid thirteenth century�600 years before European settlers reached the area. Could sharp-edged wooden weapons from traditional Aboriginal culture inflict injuries similar to those resulting from later, metal blades? Analysis indicates that the wooden weapons known as �Lil-lils� and the fighting boomerangs (�Wonna�) both have blades that could fit within the dimensions of the major trauma and are capable of having caused the fatal wounds.