Bronze Age Britons were cannibals who butchered and ate their enemies, new research shows.
Analysis of bones found at an archeological site in Somerset suggests that at least 37 people were killed and consumed by the ancient cannibals before their remains were tossed into a pit 50-feet deep.
Archaeologists studied more than 3,000 human bones and bone fragments found at Charterhouse Warren, the largest-scale example of interpersonal violence from British pre-history which dates back around 4,000 years.
They say the treatment of the remains was likely meant to dehumanise their victims, possibly as revenge for a perceived offence, and challenges the notion that Early Bronze Age Britain was a relatively peaceful place.
There have been hundreds of human skeletons found in Britain dating between 2500BC and 1500BC, but direct evidence of violent conflict is rare.
Study lead author Professor Rick Schulting, from the University of Oxford, said: ‘We actually find more evidence for injuries to skeletons dating to the Neolithic period in Britain than the Early Bronze Age, so Charterhouse Warren stands out as something very unusual.
‘It paints a considerably darker picture of the period than many would have expected.’
The scattered bones of the 37 victims were first discovered in a 15-metre deep shaft at Charterhouse Warren in Somerset in the 1970s.
They were a mix of men, women, and children, which suggested they were all members of a community, but unlike most contemporary burials their skulls displayed evidence of violent death from blunt force trauma.
To uncover the mystery of what happened to the victims, researchers from several European institutions analysed the bones, and found numerous cutmarks and ‘perimortem’ fractures on the bones likely made around the time of death, which suggests they may have butchered and eaten by their killers.
Researchers say the evidence of violent death, with no indication of a fight, implies the victims were taken by surprise and likely massacred by their enemies.
Given the fact that numerous ancient cattle bones have been found in the area surrounding Charterhouse Warren over the years it is unlikely the victims were eaten due to a lack of food, which means they were likely cannibalised on purpose.
They say it is unlikely the victims were killed for food as there were abundant cattle bones found mixed in with the human ones, suggesting the people at Charterhouse Warren had plenty to eat without needing to resort to cannibalism.
Instead, the researchers believe cannibalism may have been a way to ‘other’ the deceased.
By eating their flesh and mixing the bones in with animal remains, the killers were likening their enemies to animals, thereby dehumanising them.
As there was no competition for resources and little to no concept of ethnic divide at the time, researchers believe the conflict was most likely started by social factors – Perhaps theft or insults led to tensions, which escalated out of proportion.
Two of the children’s teeth also showed evidence of a plague infection, which may have further exacerbated tensions.
Prof Schulting said: ‘The finding of evidence of the plague in previous research by colleagues from The Francis Crick Institute was completely unexpected.
‘We’re still unsure whether, and if so how, this is related to the violence at the site’.
He says that, ultimately, the findings paint a picture of a prehistoric people for whom perceived slights and cycles of revenge could result in disproportionally violent actions.
Prof Schulting added: ‘Charterhouse Warren is one of those rare archaeological sites that challenges the way we think about the past.
‘It is a stark reminder that people in prehistory could match more recent atrocities and shines a light on a dark side of human behaviour.
‘That it is unlikely to have been a one-off event makes it even more important that its story is told.’
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