A Neolithic community in northeastern France may have experienced conflict with foreign invaders, resulting in significant violence, including the amputation of limbs as war trophies and mistreatment of prisoners, according to a recent study published in Science Advances. These findings provide a new perspective on prehistoric violence, disputing the notion that it was primarily indiscriminate or motivated solely by practical needs.
The authors of the latest study propose that during the late Middle Neolithic period, the Upper Rhine Valley experienced both armed conflicts and rapid cultural changes, triggered by groups migrating from the Paris Basin between 4295 and 4165 BCE. Archaeological evidence, including fortifications and the remains of substantial settlements, supports the occurrence of violence in this period.
Friends or foes?
Overhead views of late Middle Neolithic violence-related human mass deposits in Pit 124 of the Alsace region, France.
Credit:
Philippe Lefranc, INRAP
Archaeologist Teresa Fernandez-Crespo from Valladolid University in Spain and her colleagues directed their research toward human remains excavated from two circular pits at the Achenheim and Bergheim sites in Alsace. Their examination revealed considerable unhealed trauma on many of the bones, including skull fractures, and also signs of excessive violence, such as multiple severed left upper limbs. Interestingly, some skeletons lacked any signs of trauma and were found to be traditionally buried.
