ИСТИНА

Anthropological material was excavated from the Medieval Russian town of Staraya Ryazan by the expedition of the Institute of Archeology of RAS in 2004-2005. 45 individuals were investigated (34 adults and 11 children). Three adults demonstrated different kind of injures in skull and hip-bones. The wounds are mostly perforated and have different forms without any signs of regenerative process. Case 1. Man, Adultus. Postcranial part of skeleton was preserved including the hip-bones, sacrum, and vertebrae. Ten perforations were detected. Eight of them are on the hip-bones and 2 are on the sacrum. Two perforations on the right upper hip bone are of square form. Left upper hip bone has 5 perforations: 4 square holes and another square hole on the entrance side and round on the exit side. We also discover small perforation on the inner side of the left ischium. On the sacrum of this individual there are 2 rhombic perforations. Case 2. Man, Adultus. The skull, hip-bones, sacrum, and lumbar vertebrae were preserved. Six perforations were noted on the wings of the upper hip bone. The wounds all have a square form. Case 3.Woman, Senilis. Parts of the skull, the right side of the postcranial skeleton, and fragments of lumbar vertebrae were preserved. On left side of the skull there are 3 different kinds of perforations. One of them, near bregma, has a square form on the interior surface and has round on the exterior surface. In conclusion we examined some samples of weapons, which were discovered in the settlement. The spear and arrow heads’ diameters matched the perforations’ diameters. We can conclude that the examined perimortem traumas are the result of multiple combat injuries.