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Archaeological discoveries can reveal the brighter sides of humanity. Collecting tchotchkes, our ancestors possibly comforting or sheltering each other during a catastrophic disaster, or building owl toys for children show how caring we can be as a species. However, other findings may reveal our dark side.
That bleaker part of human nature can be found in the bones uncovered from a archaeological site at Charterhouse Warren, Somerset, England. A team recently analyzed more than 3,000 bones found there decades ago that date back to the Early Bronze Age. The remains of at least 37 individuals were killed here, butchered and probably partially eaten before being thrown into a shaft 14 meters deep. The analysis is detailed in a study published Dec. 15 in the journal Antiquity and represents the greatest example of interpersonal violence in British prehistory.
A rare and creepy find
Although there are hundreds of human skeletons in the area dating between 2500 and 1500 BC, direct evidence of violent conflict is quite rare.
“We actually find more evidence for injuries to skeletons from the Neolithic period in Britain than from the Early Bronze Age, so Charterhouse Warren stands out as something very unusual,” study co-author and University of Oxford archaeologist Rick Schulting. said in a statement. “It paints a considerably darker picture of the period than many expected.”
In the 1970s the scattered bones of at least 37 individuals were discovered in the 14 meter deep shaft. The bones belonged to a mixture of men, women and children, which likely means they were representative of a community.
Looking for motivation – and a reason for cannibalism
Have the skulls evidence of a violent death from blunt force traumaunlike most contemporary funerals. Researchers from multiple institutions further analyzed the bones to learn more about how these people died. They found several cuts and fractures on the bones that occurred at or around the time of death. The team believes this is proof that this was the case deliberately slaughtered and possibly partially consumed.
To find clues as to why people in Early Bronze Age Britain might cannibalize their dead, they looked to the nearby Palaeolithic site Gough’s cave in Cheddar Gorge. Evidence found there suggests so cannibalism was probably a burial ritual in the area. Charterhouse Warren, however, is a little different. The evidence of a violent death without any indication of a struggle implies that the victims were blindsided. The team thinks it is likely that they were all slaughtered and that the slaughter was done by their enemies.
[ Related: Bronze Age village was ‘pretty cozy’—until Britain’s Pompeii. ]
Abundant cattle bones have been found mixed with the human bones, indicating that the people at Charterhouse Warren probably had plenty to eat, so it is unlikely that they were killed solely for food.
Instead, cannibalism may have been a way to achieve that ‘others’ and dehumanize the deceased. The murderers compared their enemies to animals by eating their flesh and mixing their bones with animal bones.
‘Prehistoric people can emulate more recent atrocities’
The conflict was probably caused by social factors. Theft or insults may have led to tensions that then escalated excessively. Moreover, two of the children had done the same evidence of plague in their teeth. Fear of such a deadly disease may also have exacerbated tensions. Scientists from the Francis Crick Institute found these signs of the plague in Charterhouse Warren in a 2023 study and according to Schulting, they were a “completely unexpected” finding. However, the team still doesn’t know what impact the plague had on this conflict.
Overall, the discovery of such violence at Charterhouse Warren shows that in this case at least: perceived slights and cycles of revenge could lead to violent actions.
“Charterhouse Warren is one of those rare archaeological sites that challenges the way we think about the past,” Schulting said. “It is a stark reminder that people in prehistoric times could emulate more recent atrocities and shines a light on a dark side of human behavior. The fact that it was probably not a one-off event makes it all the more important that its story is told.”
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