Brutal mass murder of women and children puzzles archaeologists

The one from the 8th century B.C. The grave, which dates back to 1800 BC, was discovered in the 1970s. But then it was assumed that the 77 people who were concerned about noise had died of illness.

As part of a larger project, British and Danish archaeologists have now re-analyzed the remains. Then, to their great surprise, they discovered that almost all of them were women and children – and that they had been victims of very brutal violence.

– The skeletal remains show damage that could only have been caused by severe violence, particularly directed at their heads. A mass murder that should have been organized, at least to some extent, Linda Fibiger, human osteoarchaeologist at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, tells DN.

the survey, The study, now presented in the journal Nature Human Behavior, shows that among the 77 victims there was a small child, while 37 were between one and twelve years old. 15 were either teenagers or what we would today call young adults. The analyzes also show that the injuries are predominantly on the upper side, suggesting that the perpetrators were taller than their victims.

– This is logical considering that many of them were children, but it could also mean that the perpetrators were on horseback. Some also had injuries to their arms, as if they had tried to defend themselves against the brutal violence, says Linda Fibiger.

Taphonomic analysis (how plants and animals decompose) shows that the victims were buried shortly after their death. Researchers also conducted an expanded analysis of 25 of the victims. Among other things, they examined the genetic mass of the victims and the deposition of the element strontium in skeletons and teeth, which provide information about where a person grew up. The result shows that the victims were not related to each other and came from different places in the region.

– Other than a mother and her two children, there were no obvious genetic links between the victims. “This, together with the fact that they grew up in different places, shows us that they probably did not belong to the same society, but to different societies,” says Linda Fibiger, the first author of the article.

But why are almost 80 women and children rounded up and beaten to death?

– Say it, but as is often the case when it comes to violence throughout history, it’s probably a matter of having or not having and showing in the end who is “right” and who decides.

Was that a particularly violent time?

– Violence is always contextual and must be seen in context. To say that one period is more violent than another is difficult. How do you define violence? Should you count all the injured or just the fatal ones and so on? We believe this was a very violent incident, not least because most of the victims were women and children. But ten or twelve year olds back then were probably something completely different than they are today. They had different responsibilities and participated in society in different ways, so they were probably not viewed as children in the same way that we are today. After all, childhood is a modern concept that did not exist back then. Sure, this was a brutal event that stands out, but it’s not certain that they saw it that way.

According to the researchers The location also says a lot. Gomolava lies in the Pannonian Basin, also known as the Carpathian Basin, the northern part of which is today’s Hungary. This is an area that has been inhabited for thousands of years since the Iron Age. And then, as now, the area was something of a political and cultural “hot spot” where people with different lifestyles, traditions and ideas met.

– Gomolava is strategically located directly on the Sava River. At that time, the place was a kind of meeting place between people who lived quieter, sedentary lives and people who were more mobile. “We don’t know, but it could have been tensions between these different groups that caused the massacre,” says Linda Fibiger.