Child abuse 2,000 years ago in Egypt? The beaten bones of a young toddler discovered say this could be the case. The child, known simply as burial 519, could be the victim of the oldest case of child abuse ever known.
The girl died when she was between the ages of two and three. Her bones exhibited tell-tale signs of having been repeatedly broken, and her body having been shaken violently. The injuries happened at different times, suggesting a history of abuse.
Sandra Wheeler of the University of Central Florida led the team that uncovered Burial 519 in a the Kellis 2 cemetery located in the western Egyptian Dakhleh Oasis, southwest of Cairo. The area has been occupied by humans since the New Stone age, and the cemetery was in use between the years A.D. 50 and 450. This location is a favorite spot for archaeologists searching for information about Egypt's early Christian period.
The child's back, ribs, pelvis and forearms had been fractured. Both arms had been broken all the way through at the same location, suggesting a violent shaking episode. Tests have yet to determine what caused the untimely death of the toddler.
"It could be that last fracture, which is the clavicle fracture," Wheeler said.
Tosha Duprasbegan, a colleague of Wheller's, was at the dig and is the archaeologist who started dusting off the bones which first revealed the signs of abuse.
"She thought, 'Whoa, this was weird,' and then she found another fracture on the collarbone," Wheeler said.
The remains of the child were subjected to tests including x-rays, microscopic and chemical means. Healing of earlier injuries was found through the process of isotopic analysis. Consulting with current literature about child abuse injuries led researchers to the conclusion about shaking based on arm injuries. The damage to the child's ribs and vertebrae were likely caused by direct blows.
Egyptian parents at the time believed that a child had to be toughened up as he or she grew, which may have led to the physical abuse seen in her remains. However, of the 158 children found in the cemetery, this is the first one showing signs of such a degree of violence.
The results are due to be published in the International Journal of Paleopathology.
