Pelvic ring fracture—Dislocation in a 2400-year-old Etruscan man

Abstract

Some ancient texts, such as Homer's Iliad and the Book of Genesis in the Holy Bible, both of the IX century b.c., include descriptions of acetabular fractures. 4 Homer F.R. The Iliad. Winner of the Academy of American Poets. London Translation, 1991 Google Scholar , 3 Genesis. vol. 32. Holy Bible New International Version, London1997 Google Scholar Between the VIII and the III century b.c, Etruscan people settled in Italy before Romans. In an Etruscan archaeological site a skeleton was found inside a tomb with a pelvic ring fracture. It is a vertical shear fracture with a sacro-iliac joint dislocation and a diastasis of pubic symphysis. This man lived in the V century b.c. His skeleton represents the most ancient evidence of a pelvic ring fracture we know of.