Abstract
A massive bronze battle axe from the Abashevo archaeological culture was studied using neutron tomography and manufacturing modeling from production molds. Detailed structural data were acquired to simulate and model possible injuries and wounds caused by this battle axe. We report the results of neutron tomography experiments on the bronze battle axe, as well as manufactured plastic and virtual models of the traumas obtained at different strike angles from this axe. The reconstructed 3D models of the battle axe, plastic imprint model, and real wound and trauma traces on the bones of the ancient peoples of the Abashevo archaeological culture were obtained. Skulls with traces of injuries originate from archaeological excavations of the Pepkino burial mound of the Abashevo culture in the Volga region. The reconstruction and identification of the injuries and type of weapon on the restored skulls were performed. The complementary use of 3D visualization methods allowed us to make some assumptions on the cause of death of the people of the Abashevo culture and possible intra-tribal conflict in this cultural society. The obtained structural and anthropological data can be used to develop new concepts and methods for the archaeology of conflict.
Highlights
More attention from archaeologists and other history-related scientists has been focused on comprehensive studies of the great number of cultural heritage items using natural science methods
Results and Discussion tomographic reconstruction was performed by utilizing SYRMEP Tomo Project (STP) software [22]
The comparison of the real bronze axe with the model obtained from molds indicates their complete identity and the belonging of these axes from different archaeological sites of the Abashevo culture to the same cultural group
Summary
More attention from archaeologists and other history-related scientists has been focused on comprehensive studies of the great number of cultural heritage items using natural science methods. The ever-growing number of scientific research methods is being used to study the physical and chemical properties of ancient coins [1,2], metal weapons [3,4], and stone, glass, and ceramic archaeological objects [5]. The uniqueness and great value of museum archaeological items require modern, innovative approaches to their study. Nondestructive structural imaging methods such as neutron and X-ray tomography are advantageous [8,9]. We want to present the capabilities of structural imaging methods [7,8,9,10]
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