In the 1970s, archaeologists unearthed prehistoric quality remains from a heavy underground shaft successful Somerset, England. The information of what truly happened to those men, women, and children, however, has lone precocious travel to light.
Archaeologists successful the UK and Europe person analyzed the Early Bronze Age remains of 37 individuals successful England, uncovering grounds of a horrific massacre. Their findings, elaborate successful a study published contiguous successful the diary Antiquity, shed airy connected the largest known illustration of interpersonal unit successful British prehistory and situation the thought that Early Bronze Age Britain (roughly 2500 to 1200 BCE) was a play of comparative peace.
The remains successful question see implicit 3,000 quality bones and bony fragments antecedently discovered successful a 49.2-foot-deep (15-meter-deep) shaft astatine an archaeological tract successful Somerset known arsenic Charterhouse Warren. The individuals were men, women, and children—potentially representing a community, according to the researchers—who were killed, butchered, and apt cannibalized earlier being tossed into the shaft.
Led by Rick Schulting from the University of Oxford, the archaeologists recovered grounds of blunt unit trauma to the skull, fractures made astatine the clip of death, and chopped marks apt resulting from defleshing. The second 2 findings specifically suggest intentionality down the butchering and cannibalism, according to the study.
With respect to the cannibalism, the researchers ruled retired funerary rituals and hunger arsenic imaginable motivators. The decease of the individuals was intelligibly violent, determination is nary grounds of a combat (so they were apt taken by surprise), and the beingness of cattle bones successful the aforesaid shaft bespeak that determination was nary shortage of nutrient astatine the time. What, then, could person driven this shocking enactment of prehistoric violence?
“Cannibalism whitethorn person been a mode to ‘other’ the deceased,” the researchers wrote successful an Antiquity connection emailed to Gizmodo. “By eating their soma and mixing the bones successful with faunal remains, the killers were likening their enemies to animals, thereby dehumanising them.”
This explanation, however, doesn’t clarify the information down the unit arsenic a whole. At the time, Britain wasn’t experiencing problematic clime alteration oregon different events that mightiness person caused contention for resources, according to the study. There is besides nary known familial grounds of taste conflict.
As a result, the researchers suggest that the struggle whitethorn person been caused by societal factors and yet triggered by offenses specified arsenic theft and/or insults. Perhaps the plague—revealed successful the infected teeth of 2 children by erstwhile research—may person besides worsened pre-existing tensions.
“Ultimately, the findings overgarment a representation of a prehistoric radical for whom perceived slights and cycles of revenge could effect successful disproportionally convulsive actions. This concern is, unfortunately, acquainted from much caller times,” they wrote.
Although nonstop grounds of convulsive struggle successful Britain betwixt 2500 and 1500 BCE is scarce, the country of this massacre undoubtedly challenges the proposition that the clip play whitethorn person been comparatively peaceful.
“It paints a considerably darker representation of the play than galore would person expected,” Schulting explained. “Charterhouse Warren is 1 of those uncommon archaeological sites that challenges the mode we deliberation astir the past,” helium added. “That it is improbable to person been a one-off lawsuit makes it adjacent much important that its communicative is told,” helium added.
“At this stage, our probe has raised arsenic galore questions arsenic it has answered. Work is ongoing to shed much airy connected this decidedly acheronian occurrence successful British prehistory,” the researchers concluded successful the study.
While there’s thing we tin bash astir obscure prehistoric atrocities, possibly we tin larn not conscionable from past but from prehistory to halt our ain revenge cycles from spiraling retired of power much than they already have.