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In the 1970s, archaeologists unearthed prehistoric human remains from a deep underground pit in Somerset, England. However, the truth of what really happened to those men, women and children has only recently come to light.
Archaeologists from the UK and Europe have analyzed the Early Bronze Age remains of 37 individuals in England, uncovering evidence of a horrific massacre. Their findings, detailed in a study published today in the magazine Antiquethey shed light on the largest known example of interpersonal violence in British prehistory and challenge the idea that Early Bronze Age Britain (approximately 2500–1200 BC) was a period of relative peace.
The remains in question include more than 3,000 human bones and bone fragments previously discovered in a 49.2-foot-deep (15-meter-deep) pit at an archaeological site in Somerset known as Charterhouse Warren. The individuals were men, women and children (potentially representing a community, according to the researchers) who were killed, butchered and probably cannibalized before being thrown into the pit.
Led by Rick Schulting of the University of Oxford, archaeologists found evidence of blunt trauma to the skull, fractures at the time of death, and cut marks likely resulting from defleshing. According to the study, the latter two findings specifically suggest intentionality behind killing and cannibalism.
As for cannibalism, the researchers ruled out funerary rituals and hunger as possible motivators. The death of the individuals was clearly violent, there is no evidence of a fight (so they were probably taken by surprise), and the presence of cattle bones in the same pit indicates that there was no shortage of food at the time. So what could have driven this shocking act of prehistoric violence?
“Cannibalism may have been a form of ‘othering’ the deceased,” the researchers wrote in a Antique statement emailed to Gizmodo. “By eating their meat and mixing the bones with faunal remains, the murderers compared their enemies to animals, thus dehumanizing them.”
This explanation, however, does not clarify the motivation behind the violence as a whole. At the time, Britain was not experiencing problematic climate change or other events that could have caused competition for resources, according to the study. There is also no known genetic evidence of ethnic conflict.
As a result, researchers suggest that the conflict may have been caused by social factors and ultimately triggered by crimes such as theft and/or insults. Perhaps the plague, revealed in the infected teeth of two children by earlier research, has also worsened pre-existing tensions.
“Ultimately, the findings paint a picture of a prehistoric people for whom perceived slights and cycles of revenge could result in disproportionately violent actions. Unfortunately, this situation is familiar from more recent times,” they wrote.
Although direct evidence of violent conflict in Britain between 2500 and 1500 BC. C. is scarce, the setting of this massacre certainly challenges the suggestion that the period may have been relatively peaceful.
“It paints a considerably darker picture of the period than many would have expected,” Schulting explained. “Charterhouse Warren is one of those rare archaeological sites that challenges the way we think about the past,” he added. “The fact that it is unlikely to have been an isolated event makes it even more important that its story be told,” he added.
“At this stage, our research has raised as many questions as it has answered. “Work is underway to shed more light on this decidedly dark episode of British prehistory,” the researchers concluded in the study.
While there is nothing we can do about dark prehistoric atrocities, perhaps we can learn not just from history but from prehistory to prevent our own cycles of revenge from spiraling out of control more than they already have.
