Help interpreting cause of death

cmillionaire

Hi! I'm looking at the cause of death for Johanna Johansdotter, d. 31 Oct 1878 in Harplinge, Halland, Sweden (see https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2225/images/SC-816_100013__45-001600?ssrc=&backlabel=Return).

Apparently Johanna died by suicide (it lists the cause of death as "sjelfmord"). A note says something like "afskanet pulsåder på hals". Is that the correct reading (it's in the far right column of line 44)?

I put this into Google Translate, and it says that this is saying that the carotid arteries (on the neck) were cut. Is that correct?

Thank you for your help. This is actually a really sad thing to read. Johanna died just a few months after her first child had died at only a few months old.

Cody Bailey

Ulrich Neitzel

Hello Cody,

a very sad story indeed. You interpreted the remark quite correctly; the first word is afskuret = cut through.

The carotid arteries lie on both sides of the neck, you can feel them easily with thumb and finger below the jaw.

cmillionaire

@Ulrich Neitzel

Thanks! It is pretty sad, and so it caught my attention.