Institute for Oriental and European Archaeology, Austrian Academy of Sciences, Vienna, Austria; Department of Evolutionary Biology, University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
Technical University of Vienna, Vienna, Austria.
Forensic Sci Int. 2021 Feb;319:110661. doi: 10.1016/j.forsciint.2020.110661. Epub 2020 Dec 19.
Cut marks provide essential knowledge to interpret which and how tools were used, both in archaeological and forensic context. Lots of studies focused on experimentally produced cut marks on animal models to develop methods for stabbing incidents. However, animal models are criticized to be morphologically different in comparison to human bones. This study analyzed the bone composition and experimentally obtained cut marks done on ribs from humans, pigs and goats. Methods included a qualitative description of differences between the species and a quantitative analysis of the cut mark proportions in histological thin sections and micro CT scans. The results indicated that especially the cortical bone of non-human ribs was different in comparison to human bone tissue as they were more robust and usually juvenile. Plexiform bone dominates and remodeled lamellar bone is rarely visible. The knife impact tends to create debris inside the cut mark and stress fractures along lamellae and cement lines perpendicular to the cut mark. Moreover, entheses of the intercostal muscles are always affected by the incision. Pig ribs were shown to be better suited as a model for sharp force trauma than goat ribs in comparison to humans. Though, plexiform bone and non-remodeled bone made it not quite ideal. We suggested to use bone material from animals used for breeding instead of meat production as they are slaughtered at higher ages.
切痕提供了重要的知识，可以解释在考古和法医学背景下使用了哪些工具以及如何使用这些工具。许多研究都集中在对动物模型进行实验性产生的切痕上，以开发用于刺伤事件的方法。然而，与人类骨骼相比，动物模型在形态上存在差异，这一点受到了批评。本研究分析了来自人类、猪和山羊的肋骨的骨成分和实验获得的切痕。方法包括对物种之间差异的定性描述，以及对组织学薄片和微 CT 扫描中切痕比例的定量分析。结果表明，尤其是非人类肋骨的皮质骨与人类骨组织不同，因为它们更坚固，通常是幼年的。板层骨为主，重塑的板层骨很少可见。刀具撞击倾向于在切痕内部产生碎片，并沿着与切痕垂直的板层和水泥线产生张应力骨折。此外，肋间肌的附着点总是受到切口的影响。与人类相比，猪肋骨比山羊肋骨更适合作为锐器创伤的模型，但与人类相比，板层骨和未重塑骨并不完全理想。我们建议使用用于繁殖而不是肉类生产的动物的骨骼材料，因为它们在更高的年龄被屠宰。
