Researchers in England uncovered the skeletal remains of 37 Bronze Age individuals, and further analysis indicated that not only were they violently murdered, but their remains may have also been consumed. This discovery could shed light on a darker side of early human history, according to the study published in the journal Antiquity.
The remains were initially found at the Bronze Age archeological site Charterhouse Warren, Somerset, in the 1970s. Over 3,000 bones were mixed together at the bottom of a 15-meter (about 50-foot) shaft. The bones were from men, women, and children and, according to researchers, were likely all part of a singular community. After examining the remains, the research team concluded that the individuals were brutally massacred before they were thrown down the shaft.
“We actually find more evidence for injuries to skeletons dating to the Neolithic period in Britain than the Early Bronze Age, so Charterhouse Warren stands out as something very unusual,” said Rick Schulting, a professor at the University of Oxford and lead author of the study, in a press release. “It paints a considerably darker picture of the period than many would have expected.”
