Asian Journal of Paleopathology Vol.1, 30–33, 2017
Received: December 14, 2016
Accepted: December 27, 2016
DOI: 10.32247/ajp2017.1.4

Brief Communication
Healed femoral fracture, from the 10th century Ohotsk culture, excavated from the Hamanaka 2 site located on Rebun Island, Hokkaido, Japan

Hisashi Fujita, Kenichi Nomura, Shiori Fujisawa

Abstract
　In 2002, a fractured left femur was excavated during a survey of the circa 10th century Hamanaka No. 2 site located on Rebun Island, Hokkaido, Japan. The fractured region is slightly far from the center of the midshaft of the femur. Observed with the naked eye, the damaged bone appeared to be malunited―deformed and incompletely healed―after sustaining an oblique, transverse, or spiral fracture. The fracture runs in a curve posteriorly and the femur also displays curvature. Thickening of the medulla at the fracture site was visible on a three-dimensional computed tomography image, as were multiple new vascular foramen that were likely due to fracture healing. The cause of this fracture may have been a fall from a high place, a heavy object placed on the lower limbs, or the upper limbs falling while being fixed. Knowledge of the culture, lifestyle, and activities of daily living of the Ohotsk people inhabiting the region at that time may provide much more information about the fracture and its healing.

Key words
Femoral fracture, malunion, Ohotsk culture, paleopathology, Japan