Research has shown that dozens of Britons were “killed, slaughtered” and then cannibalized after the Bronze Age massacre

New research suggests that dozens of Bronze Age Britons were killed in an attack unlike any previously known to archaeologists studying that time period and site.

The research was carried out on human remains from Charterhouse Warren in southwest England, which was conducted by a team of researchers from multiple institutions including the University of Oxford. Published in ancient timesJournal of World Archeology. It found that at least 37 Bronze Age men, women and children were “killed and butchered,” dismembered, and their bodies thrown into a natural shaft about 50 feet deep. While archaeologists have found the remains of Bronze Age Britons and Britons who died violent deaths, these incidents have been largely isolated. Mass graves from this era have also been found, but the remains were buried with respect, unlike those studied.

Researchers first became aware of the plume in the 1970s. Two excavations were carried out in the 1970s and 1980s. Human remains, as well as some artifacts including a flint dagger, were found in multiple places in the shaft during these excavations. Overall, more than 3,000 human bones and bone fragments were recovered. These bones were used to estimate the presence of at least 37 individual sets of remains in the shaft. The different bone lengths show that the people killed were both male and female, and ranged in age from infants to adults. Ongoing research is working to determine how people relate to each other.

The researchers said that the way the remains were disposed of made a detailed examination possible. The shaft helped preserve the bones and keep them grouped together.

According to the researchers, the bones “show clear evidence of blunt force trauma,” suggesting that many of the people in the shaft “suffered violent deaths.” Researchers said other injuries were also likely, including removal of the scalp and severed muscles in the jaw suggesting removal of the tongue or lower jaw, evidenced by marks on the bones. Some victims may have been beheaded or dismembered.

Researchers said it was possible that the victims had been detained or subjected to an ambush, due to the severity of their injuries. It is not clear who may have carried out the attacks.

There is also evidence that the bodies had been cannibalized, including human tooth marks on the bones and indications that marrow, the soft tissue inside bones, had been removed, the researchers said. The researchers said cannibalism likely took place “in the context of a violent conflict, in which individuals are dehumanized and treated like animals.”

“Some 37 men, women and children – and perhaps many more – were killed in close quarters with sharp objects, then their limbs and flesh were systematically dismembered, and their long bones broken in a manner that can only be described as a massacre,” the researchers said.

Later in the post, researchers referred to the scene as a “massacre” and suggested that it may have been a “political statement” of violence so brazen that it would “reverberate throughout the wider region and over time.” However, it is not clear what could lead to violence: “Climate change, ethnic conflict, or competition over material resources do not appear to offer convincing explanations,” according to the researchers, leaving the only possible option for violence to erupt as part of a pattern of retaliation. Or violence between communities.

“At this point, our investigation has raised as many questions as it has answered,” the researchers said. “Work continues to shed more light on this dark episode in British prehistory.”