Abstract |
The Arkadi Monastery, which is located on the insland of Crete, was from the begining of the Cretan revolution of 1866-69, a prominent place of rebel activit. For this reason the Tuskish rulers laid siege to the Monastery on November 1866. In this work, we have examined 51 skulls of the Arkadi Monastery holocaust victims and correlated the biological characteristics and forensic features of injuries with the available historical evidence and the weapons of that era.Biological parameters such as sex, age, race and the type of injuries using the standard Forensic Science methods were included. 38 skulls have male characteristies, 7 female and 6 of unidentified sex (mainly children).The age range is between 7 and 60 years and they all belong to the Caucasian race (Mediterranean). 110 injuries were found on 38 skulls, divided in 27 intra vitra and 25 postmortal (due to inadequate conservation). With the computerized photography superrimposition method, we identified one of the skulls, putting photographs on the photograph of a known fighter of the holocaust, according to the historical data. This research concluded that: a) The victims of the Arkadi holocaust were of both sexes and of a wide range of ages, all of Caucasian race. b) The forensic characteristis of the injures correspond to those that the weapons of that era can cause (swords, firearms, e.t.c.) c) Most of the premortal skull injuries are qualified as of an extreme violence as pointed out in the historical litterature
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