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science4h ago
Ancient bones reveal chilling victory rituals after Europe’s earliest wars
- New isotope analysis links Neolithic victims to local and distant origins, revealing a two-tier ritual after battles.
- Researchers say the violence formed organized rituals after conflict to shame defeated enemies and strengthen group identity.
- The study, published in Science Advances, analyzes mass graves dating to about 4300–4150 BCE in Alsace.
- Local enemies killed in battle were dismembered, with severed limbs found in pits as trophies.
- Captives from distant regions were executed in public displays as part of the ritual.
- The research challenges the idea that prehistoric violence was random, suggesting purposeful social aims.
- Isotope signatures indicate victims were outsiders, showing mobility and different diets than locals.
- The study involved researchers from the University of Oxford and multiple European institutions.
- The research was supported by a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions grant from the Horizon 2020 program.
- The findings offer a new perspective on how violence shaped early social structures and memory.
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