Bioarchaeology of the Near East, 17:27-40 (2023)

Skeletal evidence of trauma in a Late Antiquity woman from Beniamin, Shirak Province, Armenia

Anahit Yu. Khudaverdyan
Institute of Archaeology and Ethnography, National Academy of Science, Armenia,
Charents st. 15, Yerevan 0025, Armenia
email: ankhudaverdyan@gmail.com

Abstract: This study presents a detailed analysis of the skeletal remains of a single adult female (30–39 years) from Burial 2 at the Beniamin cemetery, Armenia, dating to the Late Antiquity period (1st century BC – 3rd century AD). The individual was interred in a secondary context within a stone cist, displaying pronounced flexion of the knees and hips, with the thoracic cage, pelvis, and limbs preserved in anatomical position, suggesting that the body may have been transported in a sack. Accompanying the remains were ceramic vessels and animal bones, marking this as a previously unrecorded burial type in ancient Armenia. The individual exhibited multiple injuries, including a maxillofacial fracture extending to the inferior margin of the right orbit, a healed depression fracture of the temporal and parietal bones, and a well-healed midshaft clavicular fracture. These findings provide insight into the lived experience of trauma in Late Antiquity Armenia and represent the first recorded instance of such maxillofacial trauma in the region. The study highlights the importance of integrating macroscopic, radiographic, and biomechanical analyses to reconstruct injury patterns and contributes to a broader understanding of regional palaeopathology in the South Caucasus.

Key words: trauma; bulla ethmoidalis; fractures; violence

https://doi.org/10.47888/bne-1702 | Received 3 July 2023; accepted 30 October 2025; published online 12 December 2025.

Return to Volume 17:2023