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Bronze Age burial site a ‘revenge massacre’ where 37 people were eaten

It is the largest-scale example of interpersonal violence from British prehistory, scientists have said

Prehistoric humans located at a burial site Somerset were butchered and likely consumed by their enemies during the Early Bronze Age, an archaeological study has found.

The bones of more than 37 men, women and children which appeared to have suffered a violent death from blunt force trauma were discovered in a shaft 15-metres deep at Charterhouse Warren in the 70s.

Researchers examined over 3,000 human bones and bone fragments from the site and found numerous cut-marks and fractures caused near the time of death, suggesting the victims were butchered and probably consumed by their enemies in an attempt to dehumanize them by likening them to animals.

The findings, only now published in the Antiquity journal, are believed to have uncovered the largest-scale example of interpersonal violence in British prehistory.

Prehistoric human remains have also been found at the nearby Palaeolithic site of Gough’s Cave in Cheddar Gorge which showed clear evidence of cannibalism.

Evidence of the plague was also found on some (Provider: Ian R Cartwright)
Cut mark human scapula bone from CWFS. Rick Shulting project
Cut marks on a human scapula bone from the site in Somerset (Photo: Ian R Cartwright)
EMBARGOED 00:01 UK TIME, Monday 16 December 2024 Archaeologists have analysed over 3000 human bones and bone fragments from the Early Bronze Age site of Charterhouse Warren, England, concluding that the people were massacred, butchered, and likely partly consumed by enemies as a means to dehumanise them ANTIQUITY Antiquity is an international peer-reviewed journal of world archaeology Image from Press release ?The darker angels of our nature?: assemblage of butchered Early Bronze Age human remains from Charterhouse Warren, Somerset, UK - Rick J. Schulting, Teresa Fern?ndez-Crespo, Javier Ordo?o, Fiona Brock, Ashleigh Kellow, Christophe Snoeck, Ian R. Cartwright, David Walker, Louise Loe & Tony Audsley https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2024.180 Contacts ANTIQUITY: Max Storey, Public Engagement and Press Coordinator Tel: +44(0)7771 842 557 Email: media@antiquity.ac.uk RESEARCH: Professor Rick J. Schulting University of Oxford, UK Email: rick.schulting@arch.ox.ac.u
Over 3000 human bones and bone fragments from the Early Bronze Age site of Charterhouse Warren. (Provider: Ian R Cartwright)

While cannibalism was likely a form of funerary ritual at Cheddar Gorge, archaeologists believe the victims of the killings at Charterhouse Warren were consumed by an attempt to “other” them.

Rick Schulting, professor of scientific and prehistoric archaeology at the University of Oxford and lead author of the study, said: “The evidence for this comes from the way the bodies have been treated, with cut marks on the bones showing how they were first dismembered and then the flesh removed and the bones broken open.

“This is very similar to what we would see in a butchered animal bone assemblage.

“It is possible that this was done more to treat the victims as though they were animals, in order to dehumanise them, than it was to consume their flesh. But we are continuing to do more research on this point.”

Hundreds of human skeletons have been found in Britain dating between approximately 2500-1500 cal. BC, but direct evidence for violent conflict is rare.

“Until now, we have had very limited evidence for violence in Early Bronze Age Britain,” said Professor Schulting.

“There are a few skeletons with injuries, but overall the dominant impression has been of a relatively peaceful time.

“We have more evidence for conflict from the Early Neolithic (abuot 1500 years before Charterhouse) and the Middle and Late Bronze Age, when the first bespoke weapons – swords – appear, along with hilltop fortifications towards the end of the period. But sometimes a single site can radically change our perceptions, and I think that Charterhouse has the potential to do just that.”

The study ruled out resource competition and climate change as factors that may have sparked the killings.

human bone cut marks:-Dr Rick Schulting, Associate Professor in Scientific and Prehistoric Archaeology.Institute of Archaeology.tel: 278309.email: rick.schulting@arch.ox.ac.uk EMBARGOED 00:01 UK TIME, Monday 16 December 2024 Archaeologists have analysed over 3000 human bones and bone fragments from the Early Bronze Age site of Charterhouse Warren, England, concluding that the people were massacred, butchered, and likely partly consumed by enemies as a means to dehumanise them ANTIQUITY Antiquity is an international peer-reviewed journal of world archaeology Image from Press release ?The darker angels of our nature?: assemblage of butchered Early Bronze Age human remains from Charterhouse Warren, Somerset, UK - Rick J. Schulting, Teresa Fern?ndez-Crespo, Javier Ordo?o, Fiona Brock, Ashleigh Kellow, Christophe Snoeck, Ian R. Cartwright, David Walker, Louise Loe & Tony Audsley https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2024.180 Contacts ANTIQUITY: Max Storey, Public Engagement and Press Coordinator Tel: +44(0)7771 842 557 Email: media@antiquity.ac.uk RESEARCH: Professor Rick J. Schulting University of Oxford, UK Email: rick.schulting@arch.ox.ac.u
Human bone cut marks (Photo: Ian R.Cartwright 2016)
EMBARGOED 00:01 UK TIME, Monday 16 December 2024 Archaeologists have analysed over 3000 human bones and bone fragments from the Early Bronze Age site of Charterhouse Warren, England, concluding that the people were massacred, butchered, and likely partly consumed by enemies as a means to dehumanise them ANTIQUITY Antiquity is an international peer-reviewed journal of world archaeology Image from Press release ?The darker angels of our nature?: assemblage of butchered Early Bronze Age human remains from Charterhouse Warren, Somerset, UK - Rick J. Schulting, Teresa Fern?ndez-Crespo, Javier Ordo?o, Fiona Brock, Ashleigh Kellow, Christophe Snoeck, Ian R. Cartwright, David Walker, Louise Loe & Tony Audsley https://doi.org/10.15184/aqy.2024.180 Contacts ANTIQUITY: Max Storey, Public Engagement and Press Coordinator Tel: +44(0)7771 842 557 Email: media@antiquity.ac.uk RESEARCH: Professor Rick J. Schulting University of Oxford, UK Email: rick.schulting@arch.ox.ac.u
Scientists said the bodies were likely partly consumed by enemies as a means to dehumanise them (Photo: Ian R.Cartwright 2016)

Researchers also found no genetic evidence showing the co-existence of communities with different ancestries that could have led to ethnic conflict, meaning the killings were likely caused by social factors, such as tensions from insults or thefts which escalated.

Professor Schulting said: “The extreme violence seen here is unlikely to have been an isolated incident.

“There would have been repercussions, as the relatives and friends of the victims sought revenge, and this could have led to cycles of violence in the region.”

Evidence of the plague in the teeth of two children also indicated that disease may have exacerbated tensions.

The killings were likely caused by social factors, such as tensions from insults or thefts which escalated out of proportion (Photo: Tony Audsley)

“The finding of evidence of the plague in previous research by colleagues from The Francis Crick Institute was completely unexpected,” said Professor Schulting.

“We’re still unsure whether, and if so how, this is related to the violence at the site.”

The findings question the widespread view that the Early Bronze Age was a relatively peaceful period of British prehistory.

“Charterhouse Warren is one of those rare archaeological sites that challenges the way we think about the past”, Professor Schulting said.

“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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