Early Neolithic executions indicated by clustered cranial trauma in the mass grave of Halberstadt

Abstract

The later phase of the Central European Early Neolithic witnessed a rise in collective lethal violence to a level undocumented up to this date. This is evidenced by repeated massacres of settled communities of the Linearbandkeramik (ca. 5600-4900 cal BC), the first full farming culture in this area. Skeletal remains of several dozen victims of this prehistoric warfare are known from different sites in Germany and Austria. Here we show that the mass grave of Halberstadt, Germany, a new mass fatality site from the same period, reveals further and so far unknown facets of Early Neolithic collective lethal violence. A highly selected, almost exclusively adult male and non-local population sample was killed by targeted blows to the back of the head, indicating a practice of systematic execution under largely controlled conditions followed by careless disposal of the bodies. This discovery significantly increases current knowledge about warfare-related violent behaviour in Early Neolithic Central Europe.

Fig. 1

The mass grave feature in situ. Individual skeletons have been coloured and numbered for better visual differentiation

Fig. 2

Examples of cranial perimortem blunt force trauma identified in the mass grave. a Trauma in the right half of the frontal bone in ind. 4. b Trauma in the left parietal bone of ind. 9. c Trauma in the midline of the occipital bone (near bregma) in ind. 5. d Trauma in the left half of the occipital bone of ind. 7. e, f Trauma in the right half of the occipital bone in ind. 9. Panels a–e in ectocranial view; panel f in endocranial view. Scale bar length is 2 cm

Fig. 3

Compilation of the approximate locations of cranial trauma. Signature size represents general trauma size (large vs. small), darker shading represents securely identified trauma, lighter shading represents likely trauma. Signature locations indicate approximate points of initial impact. Numbers indicate the affected individuals with skulls preserved (ind. 2; inds 4–9)

Fig. 4

Examples of postcranial perimortem trauma identified in the mass grave. a Shaft fracture of the right femur in ind. 7. b Shaft fracture of the right humerus in ind. 6. c Cutmarks in two left ribs in ind. 8. Scale bar length is 2 cm

Fig. 5

Examples of aberrant positioning of perimortem fractured limbs. In situ positions of the perimortem fractured right upper limb in ind. 6 (humerus; yellow) and right lower limb in ind. 7 (femur; red)

Fig. 6

Examples of animal damage to the bones from the mass grave. a Typical rodent gnawing damage above the right orbit in the skull of ind. 7. b Carnivore gnawing damage to the distal right tibia in ind. 3, partly overlain by root etching. c Carnivore gnawing damage to the proximal left tibia in ind. 2. Scale bar length is 2 cm

Fig. 7

Results of the strontium, carbon and nitrogen isotope analyses. Strontium isotope ratios of enamel (a) and carbon and nitrogen isotope data of bone collagen (b) of the individuals from the mass grave in comparison to data from regular LBK and likely LBK settlement burials at Halberstadt. Both analytical methods show the mass grave individuals to be different from the regular interments implying both non-local origins and distinct dietary habits. Individuals subsequently identified as non-LBK have been removed from the settlement burial dataset published previously

Fig. 8

Comparison of perimortem cranial trauma distributions in two LBK mass grave sites. Numbers and respective shading depict approximate percentages of overall blunt force cranial trauma identified at Talheim (top) and Halberstadt (bottom). Talheim data adapted from the literature