Project description
New protocols to distinguish blunt force trauma from accidents and assaults
Blunt force trauma (BFT) is a phenomenon studied in both archaeological and forensic contexts. However, the analysis of skeletal trauma is limited by inadequate methods for distinguishing accidents from assaults. Supported by the Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions programme, the IMPACT project will establish new protocols for analysing BFT using 500 recent trauma cases from the US. It will evaluate trauma frequencies and characteristics to differentiate between accidents and assaults, and develop methods that provide new insights into historical violence, accidents, and child abuse. This study represents the first large-scale analysis of BFT patterns. Additionally, it will offer training and knowledge transfer to enhance forensic skills in Austria.
Objective
Blunt force trauma (BFT) is one of the most common type of trauma observed in archaeological studies and forensic cases. Often originating from assaults or accidental falls, determining the exact cause is difficult. Accidents are often associated with multiple traumata occurring in different areas of the body, whereas violent acts show directional trauma patterns. The study of skeletal trauma significantly hampered by insufficient methods to differentiate accidents from assaults.
The research will take place under supervision of Prof. Jankauskas, a very experienced forensic anthropologist and bioarchaeologist, at the faculty of medicine at Vilnius University (LT). Based on 500 recent trauma cases from the US, this project will establish new protocols for the analysis of BFT. Trauma frequencies all over the body and features of traumata will be evaluated to identify discrimination factors for the distinction between accidents and assaults. In the second stage, the developed methods will be applied to archaeological samples presenting high frequencies of BFT which will provide new insights into, assaults, accidents, and child abuse in prehistory and will allow to interpret societal changes in the past related to climate change, frailty and famines.
Training opportunities and a two-way-knowledge transfer of hands-on forensic case work, trauma & palaeopathological analyses will bring urgently needed know-how to Austria and will provide networking opportunities for new methods for VU, e.g. peptide analyses.
This is the first study which analyzes BFT patterns on a large scale to develop new methods for the interpretation of trauma in the past. A systematic evaluation of osteological traumata on a large recent sample has rarely been performed in anthropological studies which makes an interpretation of traumata in cases with unknown contextual data (e.g. in bioarcheological samples) difficult.
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- humanities history and archaeology history prehistory
- natural sciences biological sciences biochemistry biomolecules
- social sciences sociology social issues social inequalities
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
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Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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HORIZON.1.2 - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions (MSCA)
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Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
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Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
HORIZON-TMA-MSCA-PF-EF - HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships - European Fellowships
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Call for proposal
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(opens in new window) HORIZON-MSCA-2024-PF-01
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01513 Vilnius
Lithuania
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