This skull comes from an Indian from Chautauqua, New York.  It has a projectile point imbedded in the right parietal bone.


Photo courtesy of Steinbock, p. 25

Forensic specialists must be careful when analyzing remains.  At first glance, it appears that the cause of death for this man would be the head wound caused by the projectile seen in the right temporal.  This, however, is a case of pseudo trauma because the arrow head was inserted into the skull after death; someone had drilled a hole in the skull to perfectly fit the arrow tip.  Forensic anthropologists can tell this because of the way the bone cracked (dry bone versus wet bone), the amount and location of dirt . . ..


Photo courtesy of Pickering and Bachman, p. 131