Penetrating Spinal Injury: An Extraordinary Case of Survival in Early Neolithic Siberia

Abstract

This paper presents the first archaeological case of long‐term survival following a penetrating spinal injury. The afflicted young adult male individual was recovered from an Early Neolithic hunter‐gatherer cemetery in the Baikal region of Siberia (Russian Federation), dating back nearly 8000 years. The second or third lumbar vertebra exhibits a lithic projectile point embedded in the right lamina, extending most of the way through the vertebral foramen, with evidence of extensive, if not complete, healing indicating survival for at least several months. Micro‐computed tomography imaging is used to non‐destructively visualize both the point and the bone in order to better understand the nature of the traumatic event, as well as the immediate and long‐term complications associated with this grave injury. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.