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Site: The Hirsel churchyard, Coldstream, Scotland.
Period: Medieval.
Excavator: Prof. R.J. Cramp, Durham University.
Published: forthcoming (Historic Scotland?).
Skeleton: male in middle-age.
Catalogue entry: This head wound consisted of a depression on the frontal bone with straight edges on three sides. It was 69mm wide along the coronal suture, narrowing to 24mm wide in mid-frontal. A split or cut ran down the left side of the skull just posterior to the coronal suture, and showed evidence of healing. This individual also had two ankylosed cervical vertebral bodies (C6-7) and a detached neural arch of the fifth lumbar vertebra. These lesions could be congenital, but they are also consistent with trauma and may have occurred at the same time as the skull fracture. The fracture was healed but had left an indentation on the top of the head. It may have been the result of direct violence, but could equally have been due to an accidental blow from a heavy object.