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

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Westaway, Michael
Williams, Douglas
Wright, Richard
Wood, Rachel
Olley, Jon
Swift, Jaime
Martin, Sarah
Kemp, Justine
Rolton, Shane
Bates, William
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2016
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Abstract

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.

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Antiquity

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90

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353

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Linguistics

Archaeology

Archaeology not elsewhere classified

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