Overview
- A peer‑reviewed study examined 46 skulls from Flinders Petrie’s 1920s Abydos collection and found perimortem linear cranial fractures in 18 of them, equal to 39% of the sample.
- The study author says the timing and pattern of the injuries, together with the burials’ location around early royal tombs, strongly suggest some royal retainers were killed and buried with rulers.
- Linear fractures are broad, radiating cracks of the skull that forensic specialists link to wide, flat impacts and that can cause rapid unconsciousness, internal bleeding, and death.
- Experts caution the evidence is limited because only skulls survive, Petrie’s preservation methods and long‑term decay can hide or mimic damage, and non‑skeletal deaths such as asphyxiation or poisoning would leave no trace on bone.
- The author is preparing a 2027 book and has called for systematic reanalysis of more remains and sites so researchers can better measure how common killing was, identify methods used, and place the practice in its social and ritual context.