Injuries Suffered by Hunter-Gatherers in Argentina Analyzed

LA PLATA, ARGENTINA—A study of the skeletal remains of 189 hunter-gatherers who lived in Patagonia between 4000 and 250 B.C. determined that about 20 percent of the individuals had experienced some kind of bone trauma, Phys.org reports. When they examined the bones, Victoria Romano of the National University of La Plata and her colleagues found that men and women had suffered similar injuries. “It is difficult to determine whether the injuries were accidental or the result of interpersonal violence,” Romano said. Two of the injuries involving arrowheads lodged in bones have been attributed to violence, she explained, although these wounds could also have been caused by accidents. Most of the injuries are thought to have required a moderate amount of care that would not have been disruptive to the daily activities of the mobile hunter-gatherer group. Some 18 percent of the injuries, however, were limb fractures that likely sidelined the wounded for some three to five months. Injuries thought to have needed more than six months of care made up about 13 percent of the cases. For example, one individual suffered damage to and dislocation of the hip joint, yet signs of healing on the bones show that this person had received care and lived for years after the injury. To read more about hunter-gatherers in the region, go to "Letter from Patagonia: Surviving a Windswept Land."