During medieval times, doctors could only prescribe bed rest for a skull fracture. Even if the patient survived, the prognosis remained bleak. A recent study—the first to use ancient skulls to gauge death risk connected to skull fractures—found that medieval survivors of head trauma had a shortened life expectancy.Three Danish graveyards from the 12th to the 17th centuries provided the heads when the plots were moved to make space for new buildings. Only men were chosen for the study because too few women had head wounds. Males who showed no healing (which meant they succumbed to the blows soon after) were also excluded.[3]Looking only at those who got better, researchers found that the chances of these ancient victims dying prematurely was about 6.2 times higher than a man who had never sustained a skull fracture.What finally killed these unfortunates cannot be said, but a hard life probably hurt them in the first place. Fights, violence, and work accidents contributed to injuries that likely left some men with brain damage, physical disabilities, or a propensity for dying sooner.