3400-year-old Bronze Age man who broke his neck but survived, found in Spain

Archaeologists have discovered the remains of a Bronze Age man that lived more than 3,400 years ago in Spain and suffered a broken hyoid bone, likely caused by a blow to his neck.

The hyoid bone is a horseshoe shaped object located at the root of the tongue. Amazingly enough the injury healed and the man lived be in his 40's. He was five and a half feet and had a "moderate" build.

"This injury is extremely rare apart from hanging and strangulation, and it is even rarer since the individual survived this injury to his neck. This injury was probably produced by a direct impact to the neck," the Unreported Heritage News quoted the research team that made the discovery, as saying.

Although they don't have the specific date for the skeleton, the site itself dates back between 3,400 and 4,200 years ago.

Silvia Jimenez-Brobeil's team stumbled upon the fossil by accident.

"The location of the injury and the fact that it is healed, suggest that a direct impact was the cause rather than a bimanual strangulation," the team wriote.

It is also known that the place where the fossil was found, Motilla del Azuer, was clearly built with war in mind.

"It was a fortification, surrounded by a small settlement and a necropolis," a team of archaeologists led by Trinidad Najera Colino and Fernando Molina Gonzalez said in a 2007 press release. 

"The mound of the fortification which has been recovered has a diameter of about 50 metres, and is composed of a tower, two walled enclosures and a large courtyard."

The discovery is set to be published in the International Journal of Osteoarchaeology.