With sword and mace? : Searching for blunt force trauma from the cranial material of the Battle of Good Friday

Abstract: The crania from a mass grave associated to the Battle of Good Friday (1520) in Uppsala were re-examined in this study. The total skeletal material has been analysed before, but blunt force trauma was excluded and therefore a comprehensive trauma pattern could not be presented. In the current study, the perimortem cranial weapon-related trauma was examined by reconstructing the crania and conducting a trauma analysis. Standardised methods were used to identify and document blunt, sharp and puncture trauma. The results reveal that new blunt and sharp force trauma as well as one puncture trauma could be identified. Furthermore, the majority of weapon-related trauma were identified as sharp injuries, less than ten percent as blunt injuries and a few as puncture injuries. The cranial trauma pattern is interpreted to reflect the battle tactics, the situations in the battle, as well as the armour and weapons used by the soldiers. The notion of sharp force injuries forming the majority of trauma could imply that bladed weapons were used the most and blunt weapons were used less or caused less injuries visible on bone. The dominance of cranial trauma might indicate that head was a primary target. The trauma pattern implies that blunt weapons were used at least in face-to-face combat and bladed weapons were used in a variety of situations from face-to-face fight to more chaotic situations and against fleeing soldiers. Most of the new documented injuries were observable or easier to observe during or after the cranial reconstruction, indicating that reconstructing the crania is important for observing and identifying the maximal number of injuries possible.