German scientists have analyzed the skeleton of an adult human found many years ago during excavations of a high-status central burial of one of the Hallstatt culture burial mounds erected in the 1st millennium BC near the large settlement of the ancient Celts of Heuneburg. The researchers found that the remains apparently belonged to a man who was wounded by an arrow in the pelvic area, traces of which are visible on the ischium. Despite the severe injury, the man survived, which was most likely facilitated by medical assistance and care. The article was published in the International Journal of Osteoarchaeology.
In the German city of Baden-Württemberg there is an archaeological site called Heuneburg, a very large settlement of the Hallstatt culture, which in Central Europe is primarily associated with the ancient Celts. In the vicinity of Heuneburg, which is often called the first city north of the Alps, which existed in the second half - middle of the first millennium BC, among other things, archaeologists have discovered a number of ancient burial mounds with high-status burials that date back to the Iron Age.
One of the small groups of burial mounds investigated near Heuneburg was named Gießübel-Talhau. Three of the four burial mounds in this group were excavated in the last quarter of the 19th century, and another in the second half of the 20th. The latter was originally a large structure, the diameter of the mound of which reached approximately 42.5–45 meters. Inside this mound, archaeologists discovered a central burial that had been robbed in ancient times, surrounded by more than two dozen less prestigious burials.
The central burial of this mound was the subject of an article by Michael Francken from the Office for the Protection of Monuments in Constance and his colleagues from the University of Tübingen. In addition to fragments of a cart, horse harness, jewelry and some other artifacts that were preserved in the grave after the robbers, the researchers found the remains of an adult man who, in all likelihood, had a high social status in life and was buried with honors around 530–520 BC.
The scientists settled on an analysis of a human skeleton, the skull of which is now considered lost, but the skeleton is otherwise in good condition. Anthropologists determined that the remains from this burial belonged to a single adult male who lived between 30 and 50 years. In life, he was approximately 169-172 centimeters tall, which, according to the researchers, is about seven to eight centimeters taller than the average height of Iron Age men from Central Europe. This confirms previous observations that the elite of early Celts from high-status burials were taller than the average population.
On the left ischium of this man, scientists noticed damage - the result of a penetrating wound. Apparently, someone shot an arrow from a bow at him, which entered the body in the pelvic area from the abdominal side. Despite the severity of such a wound, the man survived - this is indicated by signs of healing on the bone. Probably, the stuck metal arrowhead, which was quite possibly diamond-shaped, was removed from the body, and the man himself received medical care and attention, which allowed him to survive. Most likely, he was lucky and the arrow did not cut the main blood vessels and, apparently, did not damage the nerves, the injury to which could have led to a violation of the motor functions of the legs - at least their bones do not show signs of atrophy.
Earlier, N + 1 reported how paleogeneticists studied the DNA of representatives of the ancient Celts' elite, whose burials were excavated in southwestern Germany. Then the scientists came to the conclusion that, apparently, these people counted their origins and inheritance through the maternal line.