Archaeologists, including a VUB researcher, find evidence of an early violent confrontation in the Bronze Age

17/12/2024

An international team of archaeologists, including researchers from the VUB, has analyzed more than 3,000 human bones and bone fragments from the Charterhouse Warren site in England, a location dated to the Early Bronze Age. The site represents the first evidence from the Bronze Age of a human massacre carried out by another hostile group, with indications of cannibalism. Direct evidence of violent conflicts from this period (2500-1500 BC) is extremely rare.

The bones were the remains of at least 37 individuals. Analysis shows that they were killed, butchered, and likely eaten before being thrown into a 15-meter-deep shaft.

According to lead researcher and principal author of the publication, Rick Schulting from the University of Oxford, the massacre is the largest example of interpersonal violence in British prehistory. He suggests that the treatment of the victims was likely a way to dehumanize or 'other' them.

“We actually find more evidence of injuries on skeletons dating to the Neolithic in Britain than from the Early Bronze Age, so Charterhouse Warren stands out as something very unusual,” says Schulting. “It paints a significantly darker picture of the period than many had expected.”

The discovery dates back to the 1970s, when the scattered bones of at least 37 individuals were found in a 15-meter-deep shaft at Charterhouse Warren, Somerset. The remains included a mix of men, women, and children, suggesting that the collection was representative of a community. Unlike most burials from that time, the skulls show evidence of violent deaths caused by blunt force trauma. To unravel the mystery of what happened to these people, researchers from various European institutions have analyzed the bones.

Christophe Snoeck (VUB), co-author of the study, analyzed the bones for strontium and oxygen isotopes. “These provide an indication of the origin of their food and drinking water,” Snoeck explained. “With our analysis, we were able to show that at least 25 of the victims were local and therefore not an invasive group of people. Two individuals had unusual strontium levels. They came from a nearby location, about ten kilometers to the west or south of the site.”

The researchers found numerous cut marks and fractures on the bones, dating to around the time of death, which suggests that the individuals were intentionally butchered and possibly partially consumed. The evidence of a violent death, without signs of a battle, implies that the victims were taken by surprise. It is likely that they were all massacred, and that the slaughter was carried out by their enemies.

It seems unlikely that they were killed for food. Many cattle bones were found among the human remains, suggesting that the people at Charterhouse Warren had plenty to eat and cannibalism was not a necessity. Instead, cannibalism may ahve been a way to 'transform' the deceased. By consuming their flesh and mixing their bones with animal remains, the perpetrators equated their enemies with animals, thereby dehumanizing them.

What events led to this dramatic act of violence? Competition for resources and climate change do not appear to have exacerbated conflicts in Britain at that time, and there is currently no genetic evidence indicating the coexistence of communities with different ancestries that could have led to ethnic conflicts.

All elements suggest that the conflict was driven by social factors. Theft or insults may have triggered tensions that escalated disproportionately. Evidence of plague infection in the teeth of two children indicates that disease may also have exacerbated these tensions. “The discovery of evidence for plague in earlier work by colleagues from the Crick Institute was completely unexpected,” says Schulting. “We are not yet certain if, or how, this is related to the violence at the site.”

Ultimately, the findings paint a picture of a prehistoric people for whom perceived humiliations and cycles of revenge could lead to disproportionately violent actions—a situation unfortunately familiar from more recent times.

“Charterhouse Warren is one of those rare archaeological sites that challenges the way we think about the past,” concludes Schulting. “It is a grim reminder of prehistoric atrocities, which unfortunately echoes other examples from more recent times and sheds light on a darker side of human behavior. The fact that it was likely not a one-off event makes it all the more important that the story is told.”

The results have been published in the journal of AntiquityButchered Bones Suggest Violent ‘Othering’ of Enemies in Bronze Age Britain.