Key Object Page

Upper Skull

This is the upper skull of one of Napoleon’s heavy cavalry, killed at the Battle of Waterloo, showing multiple sabre cuts.

Due to the lack of knowledge about the brain and high death rate of any surgical procedures performed on the skull, many head injuries were not operated on at all. It was really down to luck whether or not a soldier survived first the injury, then any infection that occurred afterwards.

A cut down the centre of the skull has almost penetrated the brain but the other cuts are fairly superficial. They may not have all occurred at the same time, and sepsis (infection) might have resulted in erosion of the outer layer of bone surrounding the less serious cuts from previous injuries.

A trephine, a T-shaped instrument with a circular saw at the end, was sometimes used on fractures of the skull in order to remove any fragments and reduce pressure on the brain from internal bleeding.