‘Something horrible’: Somerset pit reveals bronze age cannibalism

It's been a really busy few months for British and European archaeology with publications and finds which are redefining our understanding of the connectivity that underpinned the Neolithic. The Devon finds are particularly exciting. However, this find is a little different...

A collection of human bones discovered 50 years ago in a Somerset pit are evidence of the bloodiest known massacre in British prehistory – and of bronze age cannibalism, archaeologists say.

At least 37 men, women and children were killed at some point between 2200BC and 2000BC, with their bodies thrown into a deep natural shaft at Charterhouse Warren, near Cheddar Gorge.

The first major scientific study since the bones were unearthed in the 1970s has now concluded that after their violent deaths, the individuals were dismembered and butchered, and at least some were eaten.

Many of the victims’ skulls were shattered by the blows that killed them, and leg and arm bones had been cut away after death to extract the bone marrow. Hand and feet bones show evidence of having been chewed by human molars.

The full circumstances will never be known, but Schulting and his co-authors speculated this may have been an example of “violence as performance”, with the perpetrators intending to terrify and warn the wider community. Scalping, butchering and eating the victims would have had a similar chilling effect.

“Whoever did this would have been feared: this would have resonated, I think, through time and space in that particular region, probably for generations, as something horrible that happened here.” It may have been retaliation for an earlier mass killing, or have provoked later acts of revenge – events for which there is not yet evidence, he said.

www.theguardian.com...

I am not sure I agree with Schulting et al on this one.

If it was performative and intended to send a message, why were the bones thrown into a pit and conseqently hidden from plain sight?

Like you, I have a different opinion here.

I can well imagine that cannibalism was normal in very difficult times. Especially in times when you had to use everything, so why not the body? It would rot, attract vermin and carnivores, and use up work and resources.

I personally find the thought of eating another human being repulsive, but these are thoughts that I can now afford. It's easy for me to say that as a person spoiled by modern times.

What do you think, was it utilization, war?