29/10/2020
Þessi höfuðkúpa er af eldri konu sem var jörðuð í Viðey. Höfuðkúpan kom í ljós við fornleifauppgröft sem fram fór í Viðey á árunum 1987-1995. Konan var eldri en 45 ára þegar hún dó, u.þ.b. 154 cm á hæð og var búin að missa um 40% af tönnunum. Hún var með tannsýkingu, slitgigt víða um líkamann og brot í hælbeini. Brot í hælbeini orsakast vanalega af falli eða við að snúa sig illa um ökkla. Á þeim tíma sem konan var uppi, milli 1600-1800, gætu slík meiðsli hafa haft í för með sér sársauka ef stigið var í fótinn. Vel varðveitt ofið textílbrot fannst með beinunum og virðist hafa verið koddi sem höfuðið hvíldi á í gröfinni.
The skull pictured is from the skeleton of an older woman that was buried on Viðey island. She was over the age of 45 at the time of death, was approximately 154 cm in height and had lost about 40% of her teeth during her life. She had a dental infection and had osteoarthritis throughout her body, as well as a severe fracture to the heel bone. Fractures to the heel usually occur from a fall from a height or twisting injuries to the ankle. During the time she lived, sometime between the 17th-19th centuries, such injuries may have resulted in the inability to walk or stand without pain. A large fragment of a well-preserved woven textile was also discovered with her, which appears to have been a pillow that her head rested upon in the grave.
