Bone Remains from a Common Grave Pit from the Battle of Austerlitz (Anthropology and Paleopathology)
| Authors | |
|---|---|
| Year of publication | 1999 |
| Type | Article in Periodical |
| Magazine / Source | Journal of Paleopathology |
| MU Faculty or unit | |
| Citation | |
| Field | Archaeology, anthropology, ethnology |
| Keywords | Battle of Austerlitz 1805; common grave pit; war-time injuries; amputation; J.D. Larrey |
| Description | A common grave pit with human skeletal remains of at least 22 individuals dated to the period of the Battle of Austerlitz in 1805 was discovered at Jiříkovice-near Austerlitz, Czech Republic. Signs of war-time injuries and therapeutic interventions of the time belonged undoubtedly to the most interesting findings in the bones of the studied sample. An interesting find of a gun - shot lesion that left traces on the bones was the injury to the first thoracic vertebra in an adult. Another find of a typical gun-shot injury is a serious unhealed splintered fracture of the femoral body of the right femur of an adult man. The therapeutic interventions of the time are represented by war-time amputations of long bones of lower limbs. Due to quick retreat of defeat allied armies, it is highly probable that the mentioned surgical interventions were performed also by French physicians under the leadership of J.D. Larrey, the chief surgeon of Napoleons army. |
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