Mortal gunshot wound in an early 19th century mummy from central Italy

Abstract

The crypt of the church of the «Saints Jesus and Mary» of Borgo Cerreto, a village near Spoleto (Umbria, central Italy), revealed the natural mummy of a soldier, dated at the first of the 19th century. The inferior half of the right thigh showed a large circular dressing. X-ray evidenced a comminuted fracture of the inferior third of the right femoral diaphysis, with the presence of small metallic fragments. A medication still in situ was present under the dressing. The wound of oval shape (2 x 1.6 cm in size), the comminuted fracture of the diaphysis and the tiny metallic fragments prove that we are in the presence of a gunshot wound. The size of the wound, well adapting to the 16 mm gauge of the military gun balls of the first half of the 19th century, allowed us to identify it with a typical bullet-hole.