The Bronze Age was a time of cultural and technological change in Britain.
But it was also a time of cannibalism, according to a new study.
Analysis of human remains dating back to 2500BC indicates that dozens of people were killed, butchered and consumed during a very violent incident.
And it calls into question the idea that Early Bronze Age Britain was relatively peaceful, experts said.
A team of archaeologists, led by the University of Oxford, examined more than 3,000 human bones and bone fragments unearthed in Charterhouse Warren, a hamlet in Somerset.
They were first discovered in a 15m-deep shaft in the 1970s and represent at least 37 individuals – a mix of men, women and children.
Unlike most contemporary burials, the skulls displayed evidence of a violent death from a blunt force trauma – for example being hit over the head with something hard.
Closer analysis of the bones revealed numerous cutmarks and perimortem fractures that were made around the time of death, suggesting they were intentionally butchered and may have been partly consumed.
Analysis of human remains dating back to 2500BC indicates that dozens of people were killed, butchered and consumed during a very violent incident
A team of archaeologists, led by the University of Oxford, examined more than 3,000 human bones and bone fragments unearthed in Charterhouse Warren, a hamlet in Somerset
While there have been hundreds of human skeletons found in Britain dating back to a similar time, direct evidence for violent conflict is rare.
‘We actually find more evidence for injuries to skeletons dating to the Neolithic period in Britain [10,000BC] than the Early Bronze Age, so Charterhouse Warren stands out as something very unusual’, said lead author Professor Rick Schulting.
‘It paints a considerably darker picture of the period than many would have expected.’
The researchers said evidence of a violent death – with no indication of a fight – implies the victims were taken by surprise.
It is probable they were all massacred and the butchery was carried out by their enemies, they concluded.
There were plenty of cattle bones found mixed in with the human ones, suggesting the people at Charterhouse Warren had plenty to eat without needing to resort to cannibalism.
Instead, cannibalism may have been a way to dehumanise the dead, the team suggest, and that by eating their flesh and mixing the bones with those of cows, the killers were likening their enemies to animals.
While it is impossible to know why the massacre took place, the researchers suggest it could have been social factors such as theft or insults, leading to tensions which escalated out of proportion.
The researchers said evidence of a violent death – with no indication of a fight – implies the victims were taken by surprise
‘Charterhouse Warren is one of those rare archaeological sites that challenges the way we think about the past.’ Professor Schulting added.
‘It is a stark reminder that people in prehistory could match more recent atrocities and shines a light on a dark side of human behaviour.
‘That it is unlikely to have been a one-off event makes it even more important that its story is told.’
The findings were published in the journal Antiquity.
