The Bronze Age site of Charterhouse Warren in Somerset in south-west England is not notable for the number of bones it contains or the tools or craftsmanship unearthed there. No. If it has fascinated (and in some respects frozen) scholars outside the UK, it is because it is part of a very small list of archaeological remains that could change the image we have of our ancestors. It reveals the “dark side” of Prehistory, in the words of the researchers tasked with examining the ruins.

In fact, they speak of “the greatest example of interpersonal violence in British prehistory”, a brutal episode of slaughter, cannibalism and dehumanization already surrounded by many unknowns.

Discovery 50 years ago. We have known about the Charterhouse Warren facility in Somerset County for some time. In the 1970s, archaeologists had already explored the 15-meter-deep natural cliff in which it is located; Here they found a strange mass of bones belonging to at least 37 different people, including men, women and children, as well as animal remains. .

Half a century has passed since then, but thanks to a study led by the University of Oxford, we now have the keys to better understand what all those bones are doing hidden there.

And this is very scary. It’s surprising and scary.

What do bones tell us. The fact that they belonged to at least 37 different people and appear to be mixed with animal parts tells us only part of what was going on at Charterbouse Warren 4,000 years ago. And probably not the most important. What is truly fascinating is that in the details of these 3,000 bone remains, dated to the early phase of the Bronze Age, between 3,000 and 2,100 BC, archaeologists have identified clues that tell us about violence and cannibalism.

The skulls show signs of traumatic deaths, including blows, and analysis carried out by Oxford University detected “cut marks and antemortem fractures”.“ This tells us that the bones were replaced around the time the victim died. What does this mean for researchers? Most likely someone was responsible for dismembering the bodies, perhaps even swallowing them.

“The greatest example of violence”. As if that explanation wasn’t enough, it’s complemented by an equally or even more terrifying piece of information: Most of the bones in the cliff appear to belong to children. massacre aimed at destroying an entire community, from adults to youth. So they speak of “the greatest example of interpersonal violence in British prehistory.”

“At least 37 individuals from the Early Bronze Age of England were killed, butchered and probably consumed before being thrown into a 15-foot pit,” from Oxford. The results of the study, in which researchers from many European institutions, including the University of Valladolid, participated, were recently published. antiquity.

Why is it important? According to what the bones tell us. In Britain, archaeologists have managed to unearth hundreds of human skeletons dating back to between 2500 and 1500 BC. What hasn’t come across so often yet is “direct evidence” of a conflict, with the level of violence suggested by remains recovered from the depths. Somerset cliff. And not just because of the signs of injury. Archaeologists suspect that at least 37 victims died in a “single event” that occurred between 2210 and 2010 BC, about 4,000 years ago.

“We actually found more evidence of injuries in skeletons from the Neolithic period (10,000 BC – 2,200 BC) than from the Bronze Age in Britain, which is why Chartehouse Warren stands out as a very unusual example,” says Rick Schulting from the School of Archaeology. University of Oxford and lead author of the study. “It paints a much darker picture than many people expected.”

“One of the rare sites”. Schulting goes further and emphasizes that one point where Charterhouse Warren stands out is in expanding and, in some respects, enriching our understanding of history. Even if it means adding a tragic event that is uneducational and violent. “It is one of the rare archaeological sites that challenges our ideas about the past.”

“This is a stark reminder that prehistoric humans can match more recent atrocities and shed light on the dark side of human behavior,” says the Oxford University professor. “The fact that this is unlikely to be an isolated incident makes it all the more important.”

It matters when and where… And above all, what matters is why, which is one of the unknowns experts are asking right now. What could have caused such a massacre? Why did archaeologists find all these bones mixed with animal remains at the bottom of a 15-meter deep cliff?

And most of all, why this obvious exercise in anthropophagy? After all, archaeologists had found a case of cannibalism at the Palaeolithic site of Gough’s Cave not far away; but in this case everything indicates that he was responding to a funeral procession. The wounds, blows and trauma at Chartehouse Warren tell us about something else, possibly a massacre, a massacre between enemies.

Inhumane in the truest sense. Experts believe: “Were they killed for food? This is highly unlikely. Abundant bovine bones were found mixed with human bones, suggesting that the people of Charterhouse Warren ate enough to eat without resorting to cannibalism.” His interpretation is very different. According to him, it is not unreasonable to think that murderers try to “dehumanize” their victims by eating the corpses and mixing their bones with the bones of animals.

So what was the reason? This is the big unknown. The question continues to arise and for which researchers have been able to formulate several more or less plausible hypotheses. To start, archaeologists eliminated unlikely options. Competition for resources is one of them. Just like the weather. Moreover, there is no evidence of ethnic conflict or problems in the coexistence of communities with different ancestry.

When all these answers are thrown aside, another one gains strength: the social factor. Maybe fights. A robbery. An insult. A conflict that strains relationships and leads to unusual violence. “Ultimately, the findings paint a portrait of a prehistoric people in which perceived slights and cycles of revenge could lead to disproportionate acts of violence,” Oxford explains.

And to complete the picture: plague. The site of Charterhouse Warren did not need more than what has been discussed so far to fascinate historians, but the truth is that there was one more surprise that British researchers had already repeated last year: they found traces of the plague among the bones (Yersinia pestisIt dates back 4,000 years, making it the oldest documented case in Britain.

Schulting admitted in May last year: “It was a complete surprise to find two people carrying the plague at Charterhouse Warren.” The traces were found on the teeth of two children, raising an interesting question: Could the disease fuel tensions that lead to outbreaks of violence? It is difficult to answer, although the teacher assumes that the question will continue to arise. “We’re not sure yet if and how this is related to violence in the area.”

Pictures | Schulting et al. Antiquity, 2024 (University of Oxford)

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