How it is possible to determine, by analyzing its remains, if a human or an animal survived an injury in the past and was able to continue its life for a long time?
In some cases, it is not that difficult to figure out.
There are numerous remains, both human and animal, that exhibit fractures, chips, or even foreign objects like arrowheads.
How can I tell if they died because of these injuries?
To put it briefly, we could summarize that if the injury caused death, or occurred simultaneously with death, the edges of the bone break will be “clean.”
This is because bones do not continue to regenerate in a dead body.
However, sometimes, if the person or animal survives long enough, a cartilaginous callus begins to form at the edge of the injury. And if given even more time, bone will start to regenerate over it.
The example I bring you is not prehistoric but perfectly illustrates the process taken to the extreme.
This deer survived an injury that left part of the arrow and the arrowhead embedded in a rib. An internal clot must have stopped the bleeding, and over time, the arrow became fused to the rib cage.
It would not have had an easy life, but it lived.
(The photo was published in 2017 by the Utah Conservation Officers Association.)
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