Evidence of interpersonal violence through nasal fractures in Late Holocene Southern Patagonia.

Summary: Scientists looked at the skulls of 98 ancient people from Southern Patagonia to learn about their lives. They specifically checked the nose bones for breaks, which are a strong sign of fighting or interpersonal violence. They found that about 15 out of 100 people had broken noses, and it was mostly seen in men. Surprisingly, people who lived before Europeans arrived had way more broken noses than those who lived after. This tells us that fighting and violence were actually much more common in the older, ancient times, and the dynamics of violence shifted after contact with outsiders.