‘Something horrible’: Somerset pit reveals bronze age cannibalism

originally posted by: Xtrozero
It really depends on what food sources they had.

They had the whole smorgasbord at that point. The climate of the British Isles is perfect for agriculture (where the land is suitable). Circa 2000 BCE this would have been well established, and a stable provider but wild game, fish and fowl, forest produce etc also remained incredibly abundant. They had domesticated animals too - sheep, cows, pigs.

So while it is possible, perhaps if this event coincided with the 4.2k event, that crops were destroyed by flooding or just too much rain in general (These things still present problems in the British Isles for farmers), there would be no shortage of food for those hungry enough to go find it - which I would have thought would be the "natural" first response.

originally posted by: Xtrozero
I wonder the ages of the dead, were they the older or younger people because that is where they tend to go when they need to eat.

Full cross section from fully developed adults to infants I believe. 37 individuals of which about 50% are adolescent or younger.

originally posted by: BrucellaOrchitis

They had the whole smorgasbord at that point. The climate of the British Isles is perfect for agriculture (where the land is suitable). Circa 2000 BCE this would have been well established, and a stable provider but wild game, fish and fowl, forest produce etc also remained incredibly abundant. They had domesticated animals too - sheep, cows, pigs.

Winters were brutal, but it sure seems like a onetime event of an invading force, and not so much the people eating their own. The strange part is there wasn't much invading back then so maybe a band of 10 to 20 armed marauders that wiped out a village. I wonder what the ratio of adult males to adult females might have been since all males would be killed outright and women might be taken. Children would be killed too since they need caring and are slow, so a fast moving force wouldn't want them. If it was this then cannibalism would be strange since they would have plenty after they killed the village.