According to archaeologist Rick Schulting of Queen's University Belfast and forensics investigator Michael Wysocki, the average Stone Ager had a 1 in 50 chance of having his head bashed in.
The researchers looked for evidence of ancient altercations by examining 350 adult Neolithic skulls from British burial sites and analyzing the microstructure of any fractures they found. For example, most straight-line fractures on the crown were due to accidental falls, they reasoned, but a lot of depressed craters on the left side of the skull were most likely the work of another caveman wielding a club or primitive ax in his right hand.
Overall, Schulting and Wysocki estimate that about 2 percent of the skulls sustained death blows, while another 5 percent showed more minor, healed-over injuries. Such high numbers suggest a startling frequency of overall violence, considering that the team didn't even look at blows to other parts of ...
