 Second Edition  |
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One thing I wanted to convey and dramatise in the SHADOWS on the TRAIL Hexalogy and in the second book in the series, GHOSTS of the HEART, was what happened when Paleoindians were wounded or injured 12,000 years ago. While researching GHOSTS of the HEART, I sought archaeological evidence and information on how wounds and injuries were treated in the prehistoric world. Since that type of perishable evidence was not usually found in archaeological sites, I assumed that a few Native American treatments and cures had been passed down from generation to generation, perhaps from Archaic and Paleoindian times.
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Modern experimentation demonstrated that a well-thrown spear from an atlatl can be propelled at a speed of around 70 miles per hour. |
After my research in concert with my own good old common sense, I concluded that during Paleoindian times, serious wounds and injuries oftentimes led to death or at least a debilitating life, and a debilitating life led to a low life expectancy. Based on the age and condition of the few Paleoindian / Early Archaic human skeletons that scientists have found and studied, this was a reasonable conclusion.
Below is a short scene I took from GHOSTS of the HEART. In this particular scene, my main character, named Chayton, was seriously wounded by a stone-tipped spear. Chayton and his companion Wiyaka found themselves in a life-or-death situation. They were far away from their tribe, so the only thing they could do was escape their enemies and find their tribe so that Chayton's serious wound could be treated by the healer.
Agate Basin dart point used by the Mountain People.
Before the sun set in the west, Chayton and Wiyaka made it out of the mountains and onto the foothills. Wiyaka found a safe place for them to camp near a small spring-fed pond. Chayton collapsed on the ground, sick and exhausted. Wiyaka went to the pond and filled up their water pouches. When he returned, Wiyaka woke Chayton up, telling him, “Sit up! I want to look at your shoulder.”
Wiyaka knelt down behind Chayton and said, “It is getting dark, turn your back to the sun.”
“Where is Namid?” Chayton asked.
“Slol wa yea shnee, – I do not know.”
“Avonaco?”
“Slol wa yea shnee, – I do not know.”
Chayton slowly twisted his body, letting the rays of the setting sun reach his wounded shoulder. Chayton’s hide shirt was stuck to the wound with dried blood. When Wiyaka peeled the shirt away, the air exploded with hundreds of flies escaping from the festering wound. Wiyaka swatted at the dense cloud of flies, but they were not going to give up their feast easily. Wiyaka leaned closer, attempting to block the flight of the flies while he examined the wound. Wiyaka took a whiff and quickly turned his nose away. The smell of rotting flesh overcame his senses. Holding his breath, Wiyaka steadied his stomach and inspected the wound. Blood was still trickling down Chayton’s back and a whitish-yellow mass covered the wound. When Wiyaka stuck his face even closer to inspect the whitish-yellow mass, he caught another whiff of the rancid smell and turned his head away. Wiyaka’s eyes watered from the strong stench and his stomach began to heave. He held his breath once again and inspected the wound. This was too much for Wiyaka and he turned his head to the side, vomiting the contents of his almost empty stomach on the ground. When he had purged his stomach of everything in it and more, Wiyaka again tried to inspect the whitish-yellow glob that completely enveloped the wound and the surrounding area. He found that it consisted of fly eggs and when he looked closer, he saw that many of the eggs had already hatched and white maggots had taken over.
“Waglulas, – Maggots,” Wiyaka declared. “Ayabeya. – Everywhere.”
Without antibiotics, infection would be a deadly killer for Paleoindians, just as it is today. Chayton was fortunate that they extracted the stone spear point out of his shoulder quickly. Stone spear points were attached to the spear foreshaft with animal sinew or tendon. When sinew comes into contact with blood and bodily fluids, it stretches and swells. Waiting too long to extract the spear point could result in separating the spear point from the sinew and shaft, leaving the stone projectile point in the shoulder muscle. The shoulder muscles would then contract around the spear point making it difficult or impossible to remove it.
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| Deadly two-inch plus Colorado Folsom. |
Chayton was lucky that the spear penetrated his shoulder and not somewhere more lethal, such as his chest or abdomen. The seriousness of a chest wound is self-explanatory. A wound to the abdomen or stomach can be just as serious. Vital organs and blood vessels are concentrated in the abdomen of a human. If an intestine is pierced, a fatal infection is almost ensured. As an analogy from historical times, Mexican soldiers wrapped heavy blankets around their midsections when fighting the Apache Indians. The Mexican soldiers were protecting their midsections from deadly arrow wounds to the abdomen. We also know that some historical Native American tribes draped thick animal hides around their torsos to protect themselves from arrow and bullet wounds to the abdomen.
Paleoindians had other wounds they had to contend with besides those inflicted by other humans. Paleoindians had to deal with nature and its ruggedness. They had to deal with hiking injuries and campfire burns, and predator attacks. In all of those cases, Paleoindians treated their injuries, mild to serious, with what was available at the time, which was probably not much. Think about that the next time you have a sunburn, a pulled muscle or a contusion. You could always go to the medical clinic or doctor. Paleoindians never had that option!
Well...
Does Chayton survive his wound or not? You will just have to read my book series to find out.
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